


Scorpion's Sting

by syphoner



Series: Changing the World [1]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-05 17:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6715384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syphoner/pseuds/syphoner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-film, Nick and Judy are assigned to an easy narcotics case that turns out to be anything but simple. The more they delve into it, the more they discover, and the darker the case becomes. And of course, Nick is once again toeing the line as he has to deal with his cousin suddenly popping up right in the thick of the whole operation... and his and Judy's changing relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

The crowds were already pouring out of the stadium by the time Judy bounced her way out the door. Nick, Clawhauser and Chief Bogo were just a pace behind. The four of them had gotten the best seats in the house to see Gazelle live in concert. Clawhauser was in seventh heaven; they had gotten lost while trying to get out of the stadium and ended up in the same hallway as Gazelle. At the leopard’s request, she had signed his autograph book, and his poster… and his CD, and his Gazelle pillow. Thankfully he didn’t pull out anything else; otherwise she might have just retreated back to her dressing room.

 

Surprisingly, Chief Bogo was the second most excited about seeing Gazelle in concert. He and Clawhauser talked animatedly for a good while about their experience, to the point where the other two almost felt left out.

 

As the two larger officers started to lag, Nick caught up to Judy. “So, Carrots,” he grinned at her with that sly smile that she found strangely endearing, “what did you think of the entertainment?”

 

Judy’s violet eyes brightened immediately and her ears perked up, and Nick couldn’t help but admire the way her face changed completely. “It was amazing! Gazelle was so awesome to see in concert! Her voice was phenomenal, and her dance moves were amazing! And did you see the way her dancers moved on stage?” She looked back up at Nick and realized that his grin had changed. “What’s so funny?”

 

Nick gave a soft chuckle and leaned in. “I wasn’t talking about Gazelle… I was talking about afterwards, with Clawhauser!”

 

Judy groaned softly. “Nick!”

 

“What? I thought he would never stop pulling things out… where does he even fit a pillow? You’d think something like that would be noticeable in his uniform!”

 

“Don’t test him; Clawhauser could be a master thief if he wanted to!”

 

They both shared a private chuckle at that. Judy knew it was mean, but she just couldn’t help it. Besides, Clawhauser and Chief Bogo had fallen behind a good twenty paces, and with the noise of the crowd still ringing around them, it was almost impossible for the others to hear them.

 

All too soon they arrived at the parking lot, and it was time to go home. Judy almost wished that she and Nick could have a little more time together…

 

_Don't start thinking like that,_ she told herself silently. While she and Nick had been patrol partners for more than a month already since his graduation, they had started out as an officer and her unwilling civilian accomplice. In the beginning, she didn’t even consider the possibility of falling in love with the fox that had hustled her out of $20. But after saving each other’s lives multiple times, and going through the trials that they went through together, Judy realized that she _did_ love him.

 

Of course, she only realized it _after_ he had joined the police force and they had been partnered together.

 

She looked up just as they got to Clawhauser’s car – a classic Mustang Motors’ off-roader. She’d forgotten that he was the one driving tonight.

 

“Earth to Officer Hopps,” Chief Bogo said in his deep rumbling voice. “Are you coming or not?”

 

“Uh… yeah, I, uh…”

 

“Actually Chief,” Nick cut in, “we’ve already got a way home. Thanks for the offer though!”

 

“We do?” Judy muttered up at him. He just winked in response.

 

“Have a good night you guys! And Clawhauser, try not to hit the pillow too hard tonight after the excitement of the concert, eh?”

 

“I’ll try, Nick.” He chuckled nervously as he put the car into reverse. “You two enjoy yourselves!”

 

“So what’s your big scheme for getting us home now, Sly Fox?” Judy asked sarcastically. “Got a private chariot waiting for us somewhere out of sight?”

 

“Yep,” he replied, grinning at her and walking back towards the stadium. Thoroughly confused, she followed him towards a group of antelopes with wooden rickshaws.

 

“Hey there fellas,” Nick called out to them. “How much for a ride?”

 

“$25 and we’ll take you anywhere in the downtown area.”

 

“Deal.” Nick pulled $25 out of his wallet and handed it to the antelope. He climbed in and offered a paw to Judy. She took it uncertainly.

 

_Looks like you got your wish,_ a voice inside her said. She pushed it out of her mind, but secretly she was pleased. Out loud, she said, “So I owe you… $15.50 for the ride?”

 

“Well, technically if we were splitting it evenly, it would come out to $12.50 each. Aren’t you supposed to be good at counting?” He said it with a grin, but she still felt herself blush. “Anyway, you don’t owe me anything; you paid for the beers earlier. No,” he said a little more forcefully, putting one of his brown paws over her own smaller silver one and pushing the wallet back into her purse. “The rest of it is my treat.”

 

“Where to, buddy?” the antelope asked from in front of them.

 

“1955 Cypress Grove Lane. Half a block away from the tracks on the West Side.” The rickshaw lurched into motion, and Judy found herself almost thrown against Nick’s broad shoulder. He curled one of his paws around her and pulled her in tighter. She could feel a blush creeping up her face.

 

She pulled away, and he let her go easily.

 

“Nick…” she started. “I… I don’t think we should really be doing this… I mean, we’re partners on the force, and partners on the force aren’t really supposed to—”

 

“Relax, Carrots. We’re not on duty right now; have a little fun! Live a little! It’s not doing you any harm, is it?”

 

_Yes it is,_ the voice in her head said sullenly. The rest of her disagreed.

 

She let his arm creep back around her shoulders and draw her closer again. Her head came to rest on his chest, and she slowly nuzzled into him, her nose burying itself under his blue-and-gold striped tie.

 

And there they sat, him enjoying the sights of the city and the warmth of the bunny pressed into his side, and her the soft comfort that she only felt around him, the sweet smell of his _eau-de-sable_ cologne, and the sound of his breathing close in her ear.

 

For Nick, the ride ended all too soon. The rickshaw bumped its way over the low stone bridge, and the antelope pulled to a stop in front of the small house at the edge of the downtown district. “There you are, buddy. 1955 Cypress Grove Lane, half a block away from the tracks on the West side. And where’s your friend going?”

 

“She’ll be coming inside with me,” Nick replied. “She’s almost conked out and I’m not sure she’d be able to get inside her place, even with someone’s help.”

 

The antelope turned around and gave him a glare. Nick knew the feeling all too well, and could already start to feel his hackles rise. “Just you watch out, there, buddy; I saw her curl up into you comfortably, but anyone else who sees you bringing a drunk bunny like her into your place this late at night, they’ll probably call the cops on you.”

 

“Thanks for the warning,” he replied tersely. He scooped up Judy in his arms and carried her over to his house.

 

It was a one story building – or more of a shack, really – set on the edge of a small woods right at the border of the Downtown district. He had hoped that he would be able to upgrade the place a little bit so it didn’t seem so rundown before he brought her there, but now that he was bringing her with him tonight, it didn’t matter anymore. Still, it was easier than trying to get her back to her own apartment this late at night; if he had tried it, he would have gotten arrested faster than he could flash his badge.

 

Judy mumbled in her sleep as he set her down on the couch and threw his spare blanket over her. He knew she would be more comfortable on the bed, but he had a shift down at the police station tomorrow filing paperwork while she had the day off, and he needed to get as much sleep as he could. And it probably wasn’t a good idea for her to wake up next to him in bed, judging by her reaction to his arm tonight.

 

He sighed. If she had been sober, then he could have just asked her what she wanted to do and be done with it. Of course, if she had been sober she might have decided to grab that ride with Clawhauser after all and left him to spend the night alone. He shook his head and climbed into bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **For most locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

The next morning she stepped out into the kitchen just as he was preparing to leave. With a yawn and a groan as the light hit her eyes, she sat down at the table beside him. Nick could tell that she was hungover as hell. He grabbed his bag with the papers in it and started to head for the door, but just as his paw hit the handle, Judy called his name.

 

“And just where do you think you’re going?”

 

“To work, where else would I wear my uniform and carry my badge?”

 

“Without even explaining to me why I woke up on your couch?” She was only half joking.

 

“Answer’s easy, Carrots; it was either have you wake up on my couch or have the possibility of you waking up beside me in bed, which I felt might just be a little hazardous to my health.”

 

“You know, you could’ve just let me sleep in the bed, and you sleep on the couch.”

 

He gave her a lazy smile to match the one that had crept up on her own lips. They both knew that she’d never have let him do that. If she’d been awake.

 

“But I have work today, and you have the day off. See? I told you it was simple.” He shoved the rest of the bagel into his mouth all at once and with a quick wave of his paw, he was off.

 

She sighed as he closed the door, put on the sunglasses that he’d forgotten on the kitchen table and went about making herself some breakfast.

 

That day the streets were just as clogged as usual. Nick casually sidestepped group after group, dodging the elephants, zipping around the hippos, and just in general avoiding the crowd as much as he could. It still took him a good hour to get to work, but hey, those were the joys of walking from the edge of the district.

 

He walked in the door of police plaza and was instantly greeted by Clawhauser’s grinning face. He had an open box of donuts beside him, and the signed Gazelle poster was prominently displayed behind his desk. “Good morning, Nick!” he sang out.

 

“Hey hey, how’s it going Clawhauser? Liking the new décor!”

 

“Oh, stop it!” Then, “Do you really think it looks good?”

 

“Sure does! And those donuts look pretty good too! Mind if I just…?” Clawhauser held out the box, and Nick picked out a donut glazed with blue icing. “Mm, blueberry!”

 

“So how was your night with Judy last night? Get up to anything… interesting?” Clawhauser asked as Nick settled onto the desk beside him. Nick almost choked on his donut.

 

“What—“ He coughed. “What do you mean?”

 

“Oh, you know… I saw you grab a beer together at the concert last night, and then when you decided to head home together, I thought that maybe something was going to happen.”

 

“Why would anything happen just because we grabbed a beer together?”

 

Before Clawhauser had a chance to respond, his intercom buzzed and Chief Bogo came on the line. “Clawhauser, when Officer Wilde gets in, send him up to my office, please.”

 

“Right away sir!” He shut off the intercom. “We’ll talk more later,” he whispered loudly.

 

Nick hopped off the desk, bag in one paw, donut in the other, and headed up to the chief’s office on the third floor. He knocked and a groan signaled him to enter.

 

“Hey Chief, Nick Wilde reporting in.”

 

“Close the bloody door, Wilde. It’s too bright out there.” Nick did as he was bid, and the room was plunged into sudden darkness. The chief’s thick blinds were closed, letting in only a very small amount of light.

 

“Chief, are you hungover?”

 

“Of course not! I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Nick grinned in satisfaction; just from that response it was easy to tell that his suspicion had been correct.

 

“So how much _did_ you end up having to drink last night? A few beers? Some shots?”

 

“Knock it off, Wilde.”

 

“Come on, you can tell me. I promise not to let anything slip.”

 

“I said, knock it off!” The big cape buffalo took a deep breath. “Now, what happened last night with you and Officer Hopps?”

 

“What? Nothing!”

 

“Are you sure, Wilde? Because I’ll not have you taking advantage of one of my officers – even if she is your partner.”

 

“Why would I ever take advantage of Judy? _How_ would I even take advantage of her? She can defend herself better than most _foxes_ that I’ve ever met, and we have claws!”

 

“Alcohol can do funny things to people.”

 

“Oh, come on. We just had one beer apiece at the concert!”

 

“I’ve seen rabbits have less than that and get just as drunk.”

 

“Look, Chief, Judy’s fine! I didn’t do anything to her last night; she just fell asleep on my couch a few minutes before I did and woke up as I was heading out the door. But if you still don’t believe me, we can always give her a call so you can check up on her…” Nick pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial number. His finger hovered over the green call button as he waited for the chief’s decision.

 

“Alright Wilde, there’s no need for that. I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t done anything.” Nick just gave him his trademark grin and put his phone away. “Now, about the paperwork for that speeding sloth case.”

 

“I’ve got it almost all done; I was just about to go fill out the last few piece of information, make the necessary photocopies and then file it all away.”

 

“Get to it then. Oh, and once you’re done with that you can report to Sergeant Taggert for your next assignment.”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

“Good. Dismissed.”

 

As Nick walked out of the office, he couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. The speeding sloth in question was his old friend Flash, who had helped him out on more than one occasion. He and Judy had caught Flash earlier that month going 150 in a residential area – more than triple the speed limit. Nick had convinced Judy to let him do the paperwork on that case, and had used the opportunity to falsify a lot of the information to get Flash out of a really tight spot that could have cost him his job at the DMV.

 

 _One last favor for an old friend before going completely straight,_ he thought to himself.

 

It only took him a half hour to completely finish filing the paperwork he needed to do and then he went off in search of Sergeant Taggert. The large tiger was in her office, doing paperwork. Nick took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Out of everyone at the ZPD, Taggert was the only one who really scared him.

 

Taggert waved him in when she heard his knock. “Here for your next assignment, Wilde?”

 

“Yes sir, Sergeant.” There was no joking around with this tiger.

 

“Good.” From under the pile of papers on her desk she pulled out a red folio and handed it to him. The label read _Nocturnal District Fiends– Happytown._ “As you can probably tell by the name, there’s been a few drug incidents in the Nocturnal District. As far as our undercover operatives have been able to find out, the culprits are a group of jackals.”

 

“Jackals? I thought they were all gone from Zootopia, preferring to live on the edge of the map, out in the wild. How'd they move back to Zootopia without the media being right up their tails? There’s an even bigger prejudice against them than there is against foxes!

 

“Presumably at night. If you look in that file that I gave you, you’ll find the names and addresses of the few jackals that have remained in the city. Three of them live in Sahara Square. Also included is one or two citizens of the Sahara Square Nocturnal district who we have reason to believe know something.”

 

Nick took a brief glance through the folder. “So you want me to find and arrest the animals that are dealing this new drug?”

 

“Find, yes; arrest, only if you think it's safe. If not, we can get a special task force to deal with the situation. Whatever the comfort level of you and your partner."

 

“Whom will I be working with?”

 

“Your regular partner, Officer Hopps.”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Officer Hopps? We’re dealing with jackals and she’s a bunny. If she gets involved in this case, she could get eaten alive.”

 

“Last I checked, jackals prefer to eat previously dead meat,” Taggert replied sarcastically. “Officer Hopps will be fine; there was a greater chance that she could have been eaten during the missing mammals case than here. Although if you’re that concerned, I could pair you up with Officer Stronghorn, and have Hopps work with Officer Furst.”

 

That suggestion left Nick cold. Either he could try and keep Judy safe from the jackals, but in the process force her to work with Andy Furst – a timber wolf who had also shown an interest in her – not to mention partnering him with Justin Stronghorn, a bull with a temper and a strong dislike of foxes. Or he could keep her working with him and hope that they didn’t run into any hungry jackals.

 

“Well, Wilde? Hopps or Stronghorn?”

 

He sighed and reluctantly replied, “I’ll work with Officer Hopps.”

 

“Good. You’re dismissed. All the info we have is in the case file. Oh, and Wilde?”

 

“Yes, Sergeant?”

 

“Watch yourself; the residents of the Nocturnal district aren’t always friendly.”

 

“Don’t I know it,” Nick muttered to himself as he left the police station 20 minutes later, having changed out of his police uniform and back into his regular clothes. He had grown up in Happytown, where Tundratown, Sahara Square and the Rainforest district all met the outskirts of downtown. The Happytown Nocturnal district was located underground just a few blocks from where he'd grown up. It was actually an old fox from the Nocturnal District who had jumped him into the con man’s game in the first place.

 

He guessed he should be thankful for that, considering it had allowed him to support himself and his mom for a long time, and still keep him with some pretty hefty savings.

 

Rush hour was starting to die down by the time he caught a subway up to Peak Street, and then to Lionheart Avenue. He was thankful, because it gave him plenty of time to build up his composure.

 

Happytown was intended to be a predators-only paradise that quickly went downhill – until the Zootopia Police stepped in at the mayor’s request and put a stop to it. That was before Nick had been born, and by the time he was a young cub, prey families had started to move in around the neighborhood. The police always had a strong presence in Happytown, for as long as Nick could remember. Unfortunately, no one really liked them.

 

After the big “reform” implemented by the mayors office, the people living there started calling the area, “the Prison District” because they felt that their freedom had been stolen. More and more of them started going into the Nocturnal district to avoid the notice of the cops. They'd quickly expanded the old sewage and subway tunnels to connect with the Sahara Square Nocturnal district, and built one of the most dangerous areas of the city - a new Happytown, underground.

 

Nick got off the subway at Lionheart Avenue and started walking back through his old neighborhood. The park that he'd played at as a kid was old and decrepit, and now looked more like a junkyard that anything else. At the corner of the next street was John Wilde Formal Wear, a suit shop that had belonged to his grandfather before he went bankrupt. Beside it was the old broken streetcar, graffitied and cannibalized for parts.

 

He finally turned off onto Sharptooth Road, and made his way down to an old two storey house. Nick took a deep breath, held it in, and knocked.

***

Judy decided to take the subway home. Figuring that it wasn't worth waiting for Nick to finish his shift - which could go as late as 10pm that night - she figured the best thing to do would be to go home, grab some water and a shower, and try not to think about the pounding in her head.

 

No sooner had she gotten to her apartment though, than her neighbours Bucky and Pronk accosted her and dragged her into their apartment.

 

"Hey!" Judy cried out indignantly, but to no avail. They pushed her down into a chair at their kitchen table and were immediately in her face.

 

"Who was that fox last night?"

 

"What were you doing with him?"

 

"What was he trying to do to you?"

 

"Did he hurt you?"

 

"Do you need us to go beat him up?"

 

"Guys, enough! Calm down, okay?" Judie rubbed her temples.

 

"Calm down? A fox dragged your unconscious body into his house last night!"

 

"A little bunny like you, you're lucky to be alive!"

 

"Bucky, Pronk, seriously, calm down! The fox last night was Officer Nick Wilde. He's my partner."

 

"He's your _partner_?" They gave her a weird and almost disgusted look.

 

"My partner at the ZPD! Guys, come on! Minds out of the gutter!"

 

They just grunted at each other.

 

"How do you even know about that anyway? You were nowhere near there!"

 

"My cousin Anters was the one pulling your rickshaw last night," Bucky announced. "He gave that fox a big warning, scared him half to death before he could do anything to hurt you."

 

"Seriously, guys, Nick _isn't_ going to hurt me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a shower." The two of them reluctantly stepped aside.

 

"Just remember that if he ever hurts you, come talk to us and we'll beat the grin off his face!" They called after her. Yeah, like that was going to encourage her to go to them for help.

 

Once inside her apartment finally, she turned on the shower, pulled off her clothes, and stepped under the hot streams of water.

***

Nick stepped back out onto the street. Visiting with his cousin Ricky was always a headache waiting to happen; Ricky was a die-hard raver who worked as a used car salesman during the day. Nick was renting him his mom's old house. He had tried to sell it after she died since he had no intention of living there, but no one would buy it. Then Ricky came along and said he wanted the place, and since he didn't have the money to pay for it at the time, Nick offered to let him rent it until he paid for it completely. Two years later, and Ricky had just two more payments to make until the house was completely his.

 

Nick hadn't visited him for sentimental reasons, however; since he was big in the rave scene, Ricky was pretty well nocturnal and knew most everyone in the district - both above and below the ground. He'd been able to provide a few names that Nick thought he should check out. Not that Nick had let Ricky know that he was with the police now, but just from general chit-chat he was able to tell who might be a good lead.

 

According to the case files, the drug in question was supposedly a powerful hallucinogenic that could severely alter a person's mind-state. Victims had reported that it had seemed to them as if they were in another world. They all reported it being vastly different from the way things were in real life, to the point where they couldn't even recognize their own families anymore.

 

The most disturbing part for Nick, however, was that some of them - the ones who had taken the drug more than once consecutively - reported that they had trouble even discerning what species the animals around them were. He shuddered to think that some day in the near future, a bear or a lion or tiger might mistake him for something he wasn't and kill him without even realizing it.

 

Officially, the drug was called dithemontryptaline. On the street, everyone called it Scorpion. Ricky said they called it that because it hurt like a scorpion's sting when you first injected it. After that, though, you didn't even feel it.

 

The more Nick learned about the new drug, the less he liked it. He resolved to try and solve the case quickly - and to keep Judy as far away from the big dealers as he could. She had a mouth that sometimes ran ahead of her wits - and her badge.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For most locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

Judy came in the next day to find that Nick had left her a message with Clawhauser. "'Tell her to meet me outside Dusty's Casino in Sahara Square,' is all he said," Clawhauser told her when she asked. "He also has all the case files with him. You'll have to meet up with him there." She grabbed the keys for their patrol car from the office and headed over to Dusty's Casino and Hotel. Nick was waiting for her out front.

 

Dusty's was one of the earliest buildings in the Sahara Square Nocturnal district; it had grown up as a small motel that had added a games room, and quickly expanded as it gained in popularity. Urban legend held that it was Dusty's that was responsible for the creation of the Nocturnal district in the first place. It currently had over 7000 rooms and 3 floors dedicated to more than 100 different types of gambling. All legal, of course.

 

Nick pulled open the passenger door of the hummer. As soon as he sat down, Judy could tell that he had had a bad night. There were bags under his eyes, he smelled of too much coffee, and his normally smiling but alert face was drooping with exhaustion. "Nick! Are you okay?"

 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a late night." The tone of his voice suggested he wasn't telling the whole truth. "We're trying to track down some serious drug dealers; suspects are jackals. A few are living here in Sahara Square, and Sergeant Taggert told me that we'd better check it out, just in case they had anything to do with it."

 

"Was that this morning? Why didn't you wait for me?"

 

"I got it yesterday. From reading the case files, I realized that I just couldn't wait and had to start tracking down some people on my own. Some of the more dangerous ones."

 

"What, and you think that I couldn't handle it? Come on, Nick. We went through the whole of the missing mammal case together! Remember Mr. Manchas? And those timbre wolves? And the waterfall? And Doug the sheep's subway car? What makes you think that it would be too dangerous for me?"

 

"Ever heard of Happytown? The residents aren't friendly, especially if you wake them up and they're part of the Nocturnal district."

 

"Oh, come on, there has to be more to it than that!" Judy put her paw on Nick's arm. "Nick, did something happen yesterday during your investigations?"

 

Reluctantly, Nick shook his head no. "It was just long, and I ended up running into some old acquaintances that I wasn't particularly fond of, even back then."

 

"If something happened, you know you can tell me, right?"

 

He looked over at her, and he seemed to perk up a little bit. Then that easy grin slid back onto his face. "Come on, Carrots, if something had happened, don't you think I'd tell you? You're my partner in this, and if I can't trust you with what I find, then who can I trust?" He pulled a file folder out of his coat. "Here's what I got from Taggert yesterday."

 

Judy picked up the file and started skimming through it. "This is a lot of evidence; how come we haven't heard anything about it before now, especially not in the news?"

 

"The people that we have testimony from are all people who were arrested for mundane law breaking: public indecency, DUI's, that sort of thing. But once we'd gotten them away from the drug for long enough, they started to become entirely different people and we were able to get descriptions out of them of what it was like. That's the only way we actually know about the drug in the first place."

 

"How do you know all that? It didn't say anything like that in the case files!"

 

"I went to talk to them yesterday. That's why I was in the Happytown Nocturnal district in the first place. It wasn't for the nostalgia, I can tell you that."

 

"What do you mean, for the nostalgia?" Nick froze. He got that same look on his face as when she'd threatened to arrest him for tax evasion, then he was back to himself.

 

"Did I say that? Maybe. But wouldn't you rather find out what I learned yesterday?" He saw the indecision in her eyes. "Shall we head over to the first address in the file, Carrots? I'll fill you in on the way."

 

Julie pulled out of the casino loop and onto the deserted street. In this part of the town, there wasn't much activity during the day. She set the GPS to the first address in the list, and beside the map popped up a file of the owner of the residence. She shuddered as she stared into the gold-lined eyes of the black jackal on the screen.

 

"So, you sly fox, what did you learn yesterday?"

 

"The drug that's hitting these animals is called Scorpion, which most people think is for the sting that you get when you inject it. It's a powerful hallucinogen, capable of completely altering a person's belief about who they are and the world around them. It was introduced into the population around the same time as jackals started being spotted in the Happytown Nocturnal district. Some people even say that you can only get it straight from a jackal; I doubt it, though, because too many of the victims were small prey, like rabbits and goats, who would never approach nor likely trust a jackal without a serious motivation."

 

"Wow, I'm impressed. How did you find out all that information?"

 

"Let's just say that I have an informant about the situation in Happytown. Looks like this is the place," Nick added, peering out his window.

 

With very little traffic in the area, it had only taken them a matter of minutes to reach their destination. A block of apartments right near the casino. No windows on the first floor, and very few scattered throughout the rest of the building. Even for the Nocturnal district, it seemed eerily abandoned.

 

"Have you done any recon on this place yet?"

 

"Nope, I got here just about…" He checked his watch. "7 seconds ago? Same as you. What are the odds?"

 

"Ha, ha. Shall we go see if anyone's awake yet?"

 

There was no answer the first time they knocked. Or the second. Finally, Nick had to call out, "ZPD! Please open the door! We just have a few questions." That elicited a response, but when the door finally opened, it was only by a crack and the only thing they could see was one chocolate brown eye. Everything else was pitch black.

 

"Can I help you, officers?" rasped out a faint, feminine voice.

 

"Hey there!" Judy said, putting on a bright smile. "I'm Officer Hopps, and this is my partner Officer Wilde. Are you Carter Raza?"

 

"No." A flash of tongue and teeth as the jackal behind the door licked her lips. "Carter is my brother. Is he in trouble for something?"

 

"No, of course not! As Officer Wilde said, we're just here to ask him some questions. Is he at home?"

 

"Not at present; he has yet to return from work. Dusty's closes very late, you know. Sometimes he doesn't get off until 10 in the morning!" She shook her head.

 

"That _is_ quite late for someone to be working, especially in the Nocturnal district!" Judy shot Nick a look at his comment, but before she could say anything, he continued. "But since he's not here, would you mind answering our questions? We promise it won't take long."

 

The jackal behind the door couldn't seem to tell if he was mocking her or not. "I-I guess so… What kind of questions are you asking?"

 

"First of all, what's your name?"

 

"I am Chloe Raza."

 

"Date of birth?" His questions were coming out rapid-fire now; as soon as she finished the last syllable of her word, he had the next question ready to go.

 

"The thirteenth of May, in the 146th Year of the Rat." Judy was thoroughly confused by that, but Nick was jotting it all down as if her answer made perfect sense.

 

"Where were you born?"

 

"Tundratown," she admitted after a moment. "My parents were too poor to afford a nice house here in Sahara Square, so they made do with what accommodations they could get."

 

"Favourite toy growing up?"

 

"I… what?"

 

"Do you like ice cream?"

 

"I think so? I mean-"

 

"Favourite flavour?"

 

"Caramel, but-"

 

"Do you know a timbre wolf named Greyson Whitefang?"

 

"Yes, I-"

 

"Do you know any of the new jackals that are moving in to town?"

 

"No, I- wait, there are more jackals moving into Zootopia?"

 

"Yes, and some of them have gone missing, which is why we're here today."

 

Judy realized where he was going with that, and decided to play along. "We thought that, since there are so few jackals in Zootopia, the new arrivals that are moving here might have tried to reach out to some of our current jackal citizens, as a means of establishing a bond with someone more familiar in a city which has suffered severe prejudice in the past. We're just going around to anyone we believe might have had contact with them at some point since arriving in the city."

 

"I'm sorry, officers; I don't know anyone like that. The first I heard about these new jackals moving to Zootopia was from you, just now. However, if I hear anything, I shall let you know."

 

"Thank you very much, Ms. Raza. That's all we ask." Nick flashed her a smile through the crack in the door. Judy's heart instantly flared with jealousy. Thankfully neither of the others seemed to notice it. Ms. Raza closed the door, and then she and Nick were on their way.

 

"I thought we were supposed to be asking her about the new drug, not making up some story about new jackals moving to the city!"

 

"Oh, relax Carrots," Nick said as he pulled open the passenger door and got in. "If we'd started out with 'Hey, what do you know about the new drug that's supposedly being dealt by jackals?' she'd have closed the door in our faces. If she had known anything about the new jackals in the city, it would have been evident in her facial expressions; that also means that she'd be much more likely to know about the drug."

 

"But even if she _did_ have any connection with them, wouldn't she be so guarded that she'd never let it show? And how could you even _see_ her facial expressions? The only thing I could see was her eye!"

 

"Remember, foxes are naturally nocturnal." He gave her an easy smile and her heart did a little flutter in the opposite direction of the one it had earlier. "And why do you think I was asking her all those random questions first, and so fast? It drops a person's guard; while they're trying to process what you've said, they're already answering and getting the next question thrown at them. It makes it a lot harder to control their facial expressions when they don't even know what's going on."

 

"You sly fox! Where did you learn that?"

 

"Dumb bunny, it's a con man's trick. I used to use it all the time when I was first starting out, just to test the waters before I did anything rash. How do you think I avoided getting caught all those years?"

 

Judy laughed and shook her head, throwing their hummer into gear. "So what's the year of the rat?"

 

"Oh, you don't know?"

 

She gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Would I be asking if I already knew?" She couldn't keep the grin off her face.

 

"With that expression…"

 

"Just tell me already!"

 

"The year of the rat is part of a cycle of 12 years that each celebrate a certain animal; some people take it as a sacred tradition. It has something to do with astrology, I think. At any rate, the rat is one of the twelve animals on it."

 

Judy pulled into the parking lot of another apartment building and hopped out onto the pavement.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For most locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

"Three days later and we're finally finished the reports that we had to file on all the supposed 'leads'." July sighed and accepted the donut that Nick had brought for her. "And yet we got nothing out of any of them."

 

"Well we did get something," Nick said through a mouthful of donut. "We now know that none of them have any contact with the jackals that are supposedly dealing this drug."

 

Judy sighed. It was already late at night when they had gotten back from their last interview, way over in the Canal district in the northwest quadrant of Zootopia. The jackal in question had just stepped out of the shower and had not appreciated the intrusion; Judy thought it was his own fault for not asking them to wait while he changed out of his towel. And of course, as per ZPD procedure, they had to file their paperwork right away when returning to the station, and so here they were, well after midnight, only just now having finished everything completely.

 

The previous two days had been even worse. The paperwork that they had to fill out had taken them an age and a half, and trying to piece together any kind of connection or lead from those accounts was next to impossible.

 

"Come on, Carrots. Let's call it a night and get out of here. It'll be easier to think tomorrow, and maybe we'll find something that we're missing right now."

 

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Reluctantly, Judy let the fox take her by the paw and pull her to her feet. They walked out past Clawhauser's desk - currently occupied by a member of the night staff - and off to the subway stop under Grand Central Station. Judy took a quick look at the schedule times when they got there. "Looks like subway traffic is starting to slow down for the night," she commented.

 

"Yeah," Nick agreed. "I'm not due for another twenty. And believe it or not, for the Inner Loop, that's a heck of a long time!"

 

"How long will that take you to get home?"

 

"At this time of night? Shouldn't take more than an hour."

 

"Really? The other day it only took me a half-hour to get home from your house, and I don't live too far from here!"

 

"Then why take the subway? Seems almost like a waste of money, if you ask me."

 

"I guess I was thinking about the case and didn't notice where we were going."

 

"You need to get out more, Carrots." Judy punched him on the shoulder. "Ow!" Maybe a little harder than Nick had deserved.

 

"We still have work for the next few days, dumb fox."

 

"So? There's nothing wrong with leaving your work at work, and taking a step back to enjoy yourself!"

 

"Is that what you do? Because the last I checked, _I'm_ the only one doing any work in this partnership."

 

Nick looked over at her, incredulous. She had a horrible poker face, though, and it took him only a heartbeat to realize that she was teasing him. He let out a chuckle and poked her. "You're forgetting the paperwork I just finished about Flash," he reminded her. Her poker face broke revealing her grin, and she immediately turned away before giving him a very theatrical sigh.

 

"I suppose," she admitted, but he could hear the smile in her voice, even if he couldn't see it. He chuckled again.

 

Judy was still turned away when he saw the perfect opportunity for a selfie. As payback for all the times she'd forced herself into his selfies, he snuck closer to her, pulling out his phone as he went.

 

Judy, with her enhanced rabbit hearing, could tell that he was stealthily trying to get closer to her. A small part inside of her twitched, an instinct that she would probably never be able to tame. But she knew she could control it, so even though she could hear him, she didn't turn around. It was a trust thing.

 

It was only when she saw his phone appear right in front of her that she realized what he was doing, and he'd already gotten one picture with his muzzle peeking out from between her long silver ears by the time she was able to react and move. Unfortunately for her, that move was a tricky twist-hop-sidestep that caused her to lose her balance.

 

Nick realized what was going to happen while Judy was still making her manoeuver. Something in his gut told him to help or things wouldn't end well. Namely that she would fall onto the subway tracks. And while he trusted her wicked rabbit agility, she was moving just a /little/ too close to the edge of the platform for comfort.

 

He leapt forward, his arms reaching out around her just as she started to land. She grabbed onto his shoulders to stop him from ploughing into her, before realizing that she was falling. Then she lost her balance and pulled on him for support.

 

The result of their combined efforts to stop Judy from falling left them muzzle to muzzle, with no leeway in any direction. Judy looked up into Nick's emerald green eyes and couldn't help but notice how intense they were right at that moment. It made her nerves ping slightly, especially where she could feel his hot breath tickling her whiskers.

 

Suddenly, Judy's ears swivelled to her right as she heard a camera click, then a second, followed by a bark of laughter. She looked over to see a fox with long-ish red fur gelled up into a mohawk, wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt and dark jeans with a silver-studded belt. He almost looked like he was on his way to a punk concert. In his paw was a Pawphone, pointed at them.

 

Judy could feel Nick tense. Without even seeming to think, he pulled her back to her feet and stepped in front of her.

 

"Hoo hoo, Nicky! You sure do clean up well! What the hell are you doing, stealing a cop uniform, though? And who's this cutie over here? She looks good enough to eat!"

 

Judy tensed and suddenly wished she was carrying the can of fox spray her dad had given her. After the falling-out she'd had with Nick after the press conference, she had made it a point to not carry it anymore. Thankfully he was with her now; if this strange fox was bold enough to call her cute, and say he wanted to _eat_ her, of all things, then she was pretty sure Nick was the only thing stopping him from doing something drastic.

 

Strangely enough, though, Nick seemed to know him... Or at least, seemed like he _used_ to.

 

"Hey there Ricky," Nick said, plastering one of his trademark sleazy grins on his face - the kind that he used to show to the public as a con, the one that Judy had come to realize was completely fake. "What are you doing out here this late? I didn't think there were any raves happening on Wednesday."

 

"There aren't," the other fox replied emphatically. "It's all about what you need for the rave."

 

Judy, realizing what was happening, pulled out her carrot pen - a new one, seeing as the other had been confiscated as evidence when they had arrested now ex-Mayor Bellwether - and started recording the exchange.

 

"But seriously, Nicky," the other fox continued, "what are you doing in the dress blues of the fuzz? Don't tell me you've gone out and become a cop!"

 

"Come on now, Ricky, would I do that?"

 

"Then explain the outfit."

 

"Me and 'Officer' Carrots over here found these in a thrift store the other day while we were going to meet up with a fence. She got a kid's police costume, I got this one, and we figured we'd try 'em out. Have a little fun, ya know?"

 

Ricky gave Nick a suspicious glare at his words, then a sleazy smile to match Nick's own slid onto the fox's lips.

 

"You really had me going there for a sec, Nicky! I almost believed you and your hustle-bunny over here were actual cops!" Ricky clapped Nick on the shoulder.

 

The comments made by both foxes stung Judy's pride. She resolved to have a word with Nick about it when they were alone, but for once her common sense held her back from saying anything and she decided to just let Nick handle this one unless he asked for her help.

 

"So what supplies did you pick up today?"

 

"Oh, you know, this and that... And everything we need for a rumbling."

 

Nick's tail stiffened, but he managed to keep calm and Ricky didn't seem to notice anything.

 

"Is there going to be one soon?"

 

"Yeah, sometime in the next few days. We're all gonna meet up at an old warehouse and grab some Scorpion and hit the road on all fours! I'll let you know when it's happening."

 

The subway pulled into the platform and so with a wave Ricky disappeared between the doors. Just like that, he was gone.

 

Nick let out a sigh and his shoulders slumped. He turned back to Judy. "Sorry about that, Carrots," he said. The irritation in his voice was palpable. "That was my cousin and he doesn't know I'm part of the ZPD yet."

 

"Didn't you say that you didn't have any family to invite to your graduation?"

 

"No one that I wanted to, anyway. Ricky's really the only family that I have left, since my mom died. He and I grew up not too far away from each other in Happytown. People over there are not very friendly to the police. That's why they have their own building; they need it to keep up with all the crime that happens in that district."

 

"So what you're saying is that you'd still rather be seen as a con-man than a police officer?"

 

"Of course not! I just need to keep Ricky open to talking to me, at least for a little while." Judy gave him a sharp, incredulous look. "Ricky is my contact that I was talking to the day after the concert. He's the one who let me know everything that I found out about the drug and the jackals that wasn't in the file. He's also my one connection left in the Nocturnal district, so I'd like to try and keep that open for as long as I can, for the sake of the case."

 

"For the sake of the case, huh?"

 

Nick winced at her tone; for such a small mammal, she could be fierce as a wolf.

 

"Take it easy, Carrots. I -"

 

"Don't. Just don't. I can easily see what this means to you."

 

"Hey, if I wanted to go back to that life, I would, okay? I _want_ to be an officer of the ZDP. I _want_ to help people. I _want_ to see the city being kept safe. I _want_ to keep working towards protecting everyone, just like you do. And if Ricky can give me a tip that I can pass on to Chief Buffalo Butt, then I'm going to keep him around until I get all the information I can about it! Or isn't it standard police procedure to bring in evidence with suspicions?"

 

"Yes, it is. But how do you know that that tip is even coming? For all we know, he just admitted to purchasing and possibly trafficking illegal narcotics that we ourselves are trying to track down, and you let him get away!"

 

"Didn't you hear what he said about the rumbling? That's serious! The last time we had a rumbling in Zootopia, the ZPD had to call in all their resources, from all the precincts, and even then they could barely contain it."

 

"What the rotten turnips is a rumbling?"

 

Nick was momentarily caught off guard by her unconventional expletive, as usual, but quickly recovered. "A rumbling is a gathering of predators who all take some kind of narcotic that makes them go half-savage, and they go out and terrorize all the prey that they come across. The last time it happened, they were using a diluted Night Howler serum. That's why the thing became regulated in the first place."

 

Judy became very still, except for her twitching nose. That was a first. Out of all his experiences, including with rabbits, he had never seen their nose twitch like that. Though that may have been because it was rare that any of them would look him in the eye.

 

"So… so you mean…"

 

"If I can get the details on that, then we can help stop one of the largest prey terror threats that the city has seen in decades."

 

He could see the cogs whirling behind her violet eyes. "If we keep Ricky in your good books, then we can get these details?" Nick nodded his head. "Are you going to be able to turn around and question him afterwards for his involvement in the case that we're on right now?"

 

Nick shook his head. "I'm hoping that the chief will give me a break and let some other officer arrest and question him. Maybe he'll do that, if I'm extra good in the bullpen." Judy punched him in the arm again for his teasing. "Ow!"

 

"Come on, you sly fox," she said. "We should head back to the station and file the info you just got so that the chief and Sargeant Taggert can read it over tomorrow."

 

He didn't show it, but inside he was secretly relieved. It seemed as if she had forgiven him for his comments while he was bantering with Ricky. "Oh, and Nick? I haven't forgotten those comments that both of you made. We can talk about it later, when we're not so stressed with work."

 

Maybe he had been relieved too soon. But at least she wasn't mad at him right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

Judy woke up bright and early the next day, ready for her shift by 6:30 as usual. It was an easy thing to get down to the station - just a few blocks away - and by the time the automatic doors buzzed open in front of her, she was ready to face the day with a strawberry-carrot shake in one paw and a croissant from one of the local cafes in the other.

 

"Good morning Clawhauser!" She called as she headed past his desk towards the bullpen.

 

"Hey Judy!" he called back. "You're right on time, as usual! Chief Bogo just asked me to send you up to his office when you got here."

 

"Am I in trouble for something?"

 

"Nah, he didn't seem any more unhappy than usual. I think it was something about the memo that you and Nick sent to him last night."

 

"Oh, okay. I'll just drop this off at my desk and head right on up there."

 

She had just wrapped her croissant in some napkins beside her computer keyboard when she heard the soft but deep footsteps of one of the larger officers. She turned around just in time to see Sergeant Taggert at the door of the cubicle she shared with Nick. "Good morning, Sergeant."

 

"Ah, good morning, Hopps. You're right on time; the Chief just asked me to come up to his office. Apparently he wants to have a chat about something that you sent last night?"

 

"Oh, yeah. Clawhauser said he wanted to see me. I was actually just about to head up there myself." Taggert stepped out of the entrance and Judy fell into step beside the tiger - 3 of Judy's steps for every one of the sergeants.

 

30 minutes later, both Bogo and Taggert were wearing deep frowns and dark eyes. Judy almost felt the negative energy that they seemed to be exuding with every heartbeat.

 

"Are you sure," Bogo asked for the third time, "that you heard this other fox say 'rumbling'?"

 

"Yes, Chief. The station was silent, and he wasn't exactly whispering."

 

"And why did neither of you arrest him?"

 

"Well, sir, Nick… I mean, Officer Wilde thought it would be best to stay in contact with him, to try and get the details of the rumbling before the actual thing happened. To give us time to prepare, you know? And it would give us a credible reason to arrest him - in connection with this terror threat. It's a serious crime, but just claiming to know that it's happening can't get anyone arrested."

 

"And trafficking illegal narcotics wouldn't?"

 

"Unfortunately, Chief, I have to agree with Hopps and Wilde on this one." Judy and Bogo both turned to Taggert in surprise. It wasn't often that the sergeant countered the chief. "As far as the law is concerned, dithemontryptaline isn't an illegal narcotic yet. And while the city councillors are working to ensure that it becomes one at our urgings, we would have no legal grounds to arrest anyone for obtaining or providing it to another mammal."

 

The chief glared at her, then sighed. "Unfortunately for us, you're right, Taggert. Hopps, I just want you to keep an eye on your partner for this; if Wilde has some sort of familial connection with this guy, then it could very well be that he might try to do something illegal. And if that happened, I'd have no choice but to relieve him of his badge."

 

"I understand that, sir," Judy replied honestly, "and so does Nick. He may be the one who is getting the tip from this other fox, but he wants as little to do with him as he can, including the arrests once he's given us all the information we need."

 

"And you have this directly from the mouth of Officer Wilde?"

 

"Yes, sir. And he'll likely tell you the same when he comes back in a few days."

 

"Very well, Hopps. I'll trust your judgement on this. You've known Wilde for longer than I have. But if things go sour, just remember that it's on the both of you. Dismissed. Taggert, if you could stay please."

 

Judy left the office with a bit of a damper on her good mood. Even so, however, she tried to keep upbeat. It just didn't make sense to her to mope around all day just because of one slightly upsetting incident.

 

She returned to her cubicle, unwrapped her half-eaten croissant, took a sip of her shake, and prepared to enjoy her breakfast before she started looking back into the case.

***

Nick woke up, momentarily confused by his surroundings. He'd had the most vivid dream about him and Judy at a black-tie event somewhere. She'd been his date. He walked her home afterward, and she'd invited him up to her apartment...

 

Instead, he was lying in his own bed, alone, staring at the pair of aviator sunglasses that Judy had returned to him a few days after the concert. She'd worn them home to keep the light out of her eyes.

 

He sighed and rolled over, curling his tail around himself. It was his day off. He could afford to sleep in a little bit. He dozed in place for a little while, trying to ignore the brightening sunlight seeping in through the curtains covering his window.

 

Finally, around noon, he was woken up by a text from Judy. _Got a lead, two raccoons caught last night dealing. Heading to interrogation now. I'll keep you posted._ He chuckled to himself. It must be her first time questioning raccoons, going in with that supreme optimism; they were probably some of the craftiest among the predator classes, besides foxes. He almost wished he had work today, just to see her look of frustration as she tried to get an answer out of them.

 

Nick could just picture it. Jaws clenched, eyes wide, long silver ears flat back against her head, a twitch in the fingers on her right paw. As good of an actor as she was, she didn't have a good poker face, and those raccoons would catch on in no time and derive endless pleasure from frustrating her.

 

Hell, that was what he had done; back at the DMV just after she'd first blackmailed him into helping her, he'd purposely been absolutely no help and even occasionally derailing the conversation, knowing full well that she was in a rush. She'd made that same face when they'd gone out for dinner to celebrate Nick's graduation from the Police Academy. It had been his first meal out since he'd started his training a year before, and he had taken forever to figure out what he wanted. At first it was actual indecision, but then it turned into pure amusement as Judy grew more and more impatient. He always found it fun to tease her.

 

The next thing that shook him out of his dozing was his ringtone going off. Some of Finnick's rap music, thankfully turned down from the usual volume. Nick picked up the phone and hit the answer call button, keeping the device away from his ear. Most of the time, Finnick had to shout to be heard over the music that he always seemed to have playing in the background, day or night. Today was no exception.

 

"Nick!" Finnick screamed. "The hell you doing, man? That bunny cop got you so wrapped around her finger that you tryin' to get into that sleek uniform of hers?"

 

"Good to hear from you too, Finnick," Nick called back, keeping his voice at a reasonable volume. "I unfortunately have no idea what you're talking about. Would you mind elaborating and turning down your music a little bit?" There was a pause and the volume lowered slightly. "Thank you." Nick put the phone back to his ear.

 

"Now what the hell you doing, man?" Nick practically threw his phone across the room, he jerked it away from his ear so fast. It figured that Finnick wouldn't lower the volume of his voice at the same time as his music.

 

"Again, buddy, I don't know what you're talking about."

 

"I'm talking about that pic that Ricky's been sending around of you and Flopsy the Copsy smoochin' alongside the tracks! She started hustlin' herself or what?"

 

Nick's heart dropped. He'd forgotten that Ricky had taken those pictures. And of course it meant that those pictures were being sent around - ravers were irritating characters, at best, and loved to get a rise out of messing with someone else.

 

"Officer Hopps ended up almost falling onto the tracks, and a train was going to be on its way into the station not long afterwards. I leapt forward to stop her from falling and we ended up muzzle to muzzle. Ricky just happened to walk along and catch me in a bad moment."

 

"You sure I couldn't get my paws on some of that bunny's-"

 

"You could try," Nick interjected. "But I doubt you'd get anywhere except the back of a police cruiser - or some fox repellent in the face."

 

Finnick paused. "You mean she still carries that shit around with her?"

 

"Not while on patrol, but she does still have it. As far as I know, anyway." He could hear profuse swearing at the other end of the line. "Look, Finnick, I gotta go. I'll catch up with you later."

 

"You still coming to Saturday’s poker game?"

 

"Of course! I still need to win back that $50 that that weasel cheated me out of!"

 

"Good."

 

Nick hung up the phone and quickly got dressed in his usual green Hawaiian shirt, khakis and tie, before booking it out of his apartment. It seemed like he'd have to pay a visit to Ricky about one particular photo that he'd rather not get spread around. At least not in the underworld.

***

After several hours in the interrogation rooms of each of the two raccoons, Judy finally stepped out and let Officer McHorn take over for her. She sighed and imagined the look on Nick's face when she told him what had happened. He'd be laughing his tail off for hours.

 

The raccoons had done nothing but waste her time. Eventually she'd gotten impatient with them and since then they hadn't done anything but turn the conversation in circles. They particularly seemed to enjoy going on tangents every few sentences.

 

Judy slipped back behind her desk and took a long drink from her water bottle. An important tool for any police officer, no matter the time of day.

 

The clock on the wall said 6:30. Had she really wasted the whole afternoon in those interrogation rooms? She checked her phone, just to be sure. _New message._ That was unusual; her parents didn't text, her older siblings all worked during the day and knew she did too, and none of her younger siblings had a phone. It also wasn't Nick, since she didn't see his icon next to the notification. Curious, she unlocked her phone.

 

There, sitting right in the middle of her screen, was the last name she expected to see: Lily Hopps-Burnaby. Judy's distant cousin (almost everyone was related to each other in Bunnyburrow), best friend from high school and one of the most outgoing bunnies that Judy had ever known - besides herself, of course.

 

And, lo and behold, she was on her way up from Bunnyburrow to see the big city with her fiancée. Judy had just been accepted into the Police Academy when Lily had gotten engaged to her college boyfriend Mark. They were still both working to save up the funds for the wedding, but Judy knew they were getting close. So this impromptu visit was definitely unexpected.

 

The text said that they were expected to arrive in Central Station around 8:30 that night, and asked if Judy wanted to go for drinks after her shift. Having not seen her friend since she moved off to the Police Academy, the chance to catch up with her would be nice - and a good change in pace from the havoc of the past few days.

 

Judy shot back a reply (saying she'd love to, of course!) and then turned to her computer to draw up the paperwork for the raccoons. She was done and had the file sent to McHorn's inbox by 7:15, then she clocked out and went to grab some dinner before Lily and Mark arrived.

 

Knowing how expensive drinks could get downtown, especially at some of the nicer bars, Judy elected to eat her dinner at home. Thankfully her tickets to go see Gazelle's concert the previous week had been free, but including the beer that she'd bought for herself and Nick, the croissant and the shake from earlier, the dress that she'd bought herself earlier in the month for Fru Fru's daughter's christening, and the drinks tonight and probably other activities that she'd get roped into by Lily, she was cutting it close on her monthly budget.

 

Her meal that night consisted of a bowl of carrot soup, some leftover veggie stir-fry, and a slice of one of Gideon's blueberry pies that her parent's had sent up to her with their last basket of fruits. They sent up a care package about once a month filled with fruits, veggies and occasionally some pie if they felt like sending it up.

 

She finished dinner around 8 o'clock and got ready to meet her friend. Likely they'd want to drop off their bags and get ready for the evening a little bit, but Judy figured that she wouldn't have the time to come back afterwards and get ready.

 

Purse in paw, she headed back to the station and got there just a few minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive. She waited anxiously to see any sign of her friend.

 

Finally she spotted the two bunnies leaving the train and rushed down the stairs to the platform. "Lily!" she called out. Her friend's ears twitched in her direction, and she turned just in time to spot Judy rushing her. Judy reached out and picked up her friend and spun her around before pulling her in for a hug.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

They had already had a few beers by the time they got around to discussing Judy's love life.

 

Looking back on it, she couldn't remember how they had gotten to the subject; Lily was very well aware that Judy had only ever had one romantic partner before, and that had been a complete flop, and not only because it felt very romantically one sided. After he tried to force her to quit her dreams of becoming a police officer, she gave him a reality check and destroyed his dreams of marrying her. It wasn't clean. It didn't end well. She still sometimes got messages from him saying how much he missed her.

 

So when posed the question, she really didn't know how to respond.

 

"Come on, Judes!" Lily goaded, nudging her friend. "You've been too wrapped up in work, lately. And it's not like we're getting any younger! I mean, you're already seriously cutting down on the number of litters you'll be able to have. Don't you want a big family?"

 

"You know I'm not really a romantic type, Lily," Judy replied, exasperated with her friend. "And at this stage, kids… well, they're not really the kind of thing that I'm thinking about, you know? Yeah, I'm really focused on work, but I'm good at what I do and I'm making a career for myself. Isn't that just as important?"

 

Her friend laughed. "Yeah, for you it is. I don't know about me, though; I want to hurry up and marry Mark already so that I can start having loads of kids!" Lily had gone to college for childcare and family studies; she'd basically been preparing her whole life to have litters of her own ever few years. Judy, meanwhile, had taken Criminology with a minor in criminal justice - which was probably one of the few reasons they'd let her join the Police Academy in the first place.

 

"But seriously, though. Isn't there anyone that you're interested in? Like, at all?" Judy began to shake her head. "What about your partner on the force? Is he cute at least?"

 

That caught Judy off guard. "Nick?" she said, surprised at the thought. "I mean, he's very handsome… But, I don't really think that's necessarily the best direction to go in. He's my partner on the force, for one thing, and for another, he's a-"

 

"You know, with that attitude, you're never going to find a mate! Don't think about how bad it could be, just think about the positives. Even if you don't want to go there, pretend it's a possibility and tell me all about him!"

 

"Where did Mark go?" Judy asked suddenly, just now realizing that when she'd thought Mark had gone for another drink at the bar, he hadn't come back and that was over 10 minutes prior.

 

"He felt sick, sent me a text saying he was heading back to the hotel. He called a taxi and was on his way while you were in the washroom. Now, details."

 

"Oh." Judy frowned. She'd forgotten how stubborn her friend could be when she wanted to be. Judy's grandfather had often joked that the two of them together were like a pair of mules: completely immovable once they'd made a decision, and constantly butting heads with each other. Thankfully Judy's mother had warned her that sayings like that were in bad taste, so she hadn't repeated the analogy to any of her siblings.

 

Judy thought back to the previous night when she and Nick had been muzzle to muzzle, and before that to their trip home in the rickshaw, and then even further back, to a fancy dinner at Mr. Big's mansion to celebrate the birth of Fru Fru's new daughter. Both her and Nick had been invited. It was a black-tie affair. He'd worn a really nice, expensive looking suit that he'd said had belonged to his father. It had completely transformed his appearance from the usual laid-back, easy-going fox to a classy mammal that she could only describe as dashing. They'd danced together for well over an hour - she'd been surprised to find out that he was such a good dancer, much better than her - and afterwards, having said goodbye to Mr. Big, Fru Fru and her new daughter, Judy and Nick climbed into the limo that had been sent for them. That was the first time she'd curled up against the fox, and the first time she'd realized that her feelings towards him might be changing…

 

Lily nudged her and gave her a meaningful look, and Judy realized that she'd zoned out. "Sorry. He's got a wit that could run you circles of laughter or circles of irritation, eyes as green as any carrot field ever was, and a grin that could charm a cape buffalo." she had to suppress a giggle as a memory suddenly popped up of the first time that they'd met Chief Bogo's wife. They were laughing for days over the reprimand the chief was obviously dying to give, but had to refrain from in front of his wife because she seemed to enjoy the fox's sense of humour.

 

"He almost sounds like a fox!" Judy knew her friend was just teasing, but suddenly found herself blushing profusely under her fur. She had completely forgotten about the fact that no one back home knew that she was partnered with a fox. It would have incited a scurry back in Bunnyburrow if the news got out in the wrong way. Then Lily added, "It sounds like you really _do_ have feelings for him!"

 

"I-I mean, that's not… It's not what it…!"

 

"Oh relax, Judes, I'm just joking! So what kind of animal is he? Small prey like us? Or something a little bit more-" she looked around to make sure no one was listening, then leaned in close, "-foxy?"

 

Judy's blush deepened, but before she had a chance to respond, the bartender came up and told them that they were going to be closing up in about a half hour. Realizing finally how late it was, they both pulled out their wallets and handed the bartender the money for their tabs.

 

Lily's hotel was at the edge of Savannah Central, so Judy offered to let her stay the night at her small apartment, which wasn't too far away. They both settled in for the night in Judy's bed, and Judy couldn't help but feel comforted by the feeling of having someone sleeping next to her again, after over a year of sleeping on her own.

***

To say that Chief Bogo was surprised to see Nick Wilde, the sly, easy-going fox, storm into the precinct at 10 PM on his day off was like saying that a mouse could run as fast as a cheetah. Well, _most_ cheetahs, anyway, the chief reflected, thinking of the receptionist. And yet storm in Nick did, fur fluffed in some places and matted with mud in others, tie askew, Hawaiian shirt filthy and torn. Bogo was just leaving, but seeing the fox in such a state of dishevelment and obvious irritation gave him pause.

 

"Wilde!" Bogo called as the fox moved towards the stairs leading to the cubicles on the second floor. Nick gave a cursory glance backwards, then did a double take and turned, though the chief could tell that the fox was halting his progress reluctantly.

 

"Yes, chief?" The tone was polite, but by no means friendly. Bogo decided to hold off on judgement based on Nick's appearance.

 

"What in the heavens happened to you?"

 

"Went to see my cousin about some pictures that he had of me, ended up being roped into a scuffle with some of his predator friends from the underground Nocturnal district. Let's just say that those hyenas were not friendly mammals, despite the laughter."

 

"Are you hurt?"

 

"A scratch behind my left ear, but nothing else." Bogo let out a sigh of relief, which caused the fox to twitch an ear - his right, the chief noticed.

 

"Now, what kind of bloody photos would get you to get into a scrap with a band of hyenas? You're an officer of the ZPD, Wilde, and you're supposed to be representing the precinct, even when you aren't in uniform."

 

"Would you rather have pictures of myself and Judy… myself and Officer Hopps circulating the city with the rumour that we're a pred-prey couple? You know how that would go down!"

 

That gave the chief pause. "Why would that be a rumour? And how is it that this cousin of yours came to possess such compromising pictures?"

 

"Judy lost her balance the other night while we were waiting for the train in Central Station. It looked like she was going to fall onto the tracks, so I tried to catch her before she fell. I did, but in the process she ended up facing me, so when I caught her we were basically muzzle to muzzle. Ricky just happened to pick that time to snap a few photos of us."

 

"Is there any basis to the rumour?"

 

"No! Which is one of the biggest reasons that I was tracking him down - a photo like that getting out to the media could _ruin_ Judy's career, and she's already worked so hard for it. It would crush her if she lost the job because of that one picture."

 

Chief Bogo studied the bedraggled fox for a few moments, noticing the frustrated tension in his stance, and the obvious sincerity in his eyes. And something about what Nick had said gave Bogo a gut feeling that pushed him beyond a doubt. There was a time when he wouldn't have trusted the fox any further than the tip of his horns, but since his graduation from the academy and the obvious trust that Hopps had in him, Bogo had come to trust the fox, as well… Or at least, trust him to do his part.

 

The chief nodded, and Nick was wound up so tight that he almost flinched.

 

"So what brings you back to our building tonight, then? Filing an incident report against your assailants?"

 

Nick's ear twitched again. Bogo wondered at the motion.

 

"I got another tip about the rumbling, " he said, careful to keep his voice fairly low. Even though there was no one in the station lobby at the moment - an unexpectedly quiet night, by all accounts - it wouldn't do to have some hidden mammal catching wind of what they were talking about and spreading word around.

 

"Why don't you come in to my office, Wilde. We can discuss it in there." Nick looked at him, then followed the cape buffalo up to the top floor of the building.

 

"Now," Bogo said once he had shut the door and they were both seated. "What happened?"

 

Nick took a moment to organize his thoughts. "As I said, I went to get Ricky to delete those photos. He refused, but offered me a trade; he told me he needed to go talk to someone, and if I went with him, then he'd delete them for me. He assured me it wasn't anything illegal. So, we arrived at the location where he was meeting these people, and he started discussing the rumbling with them."

 

"And what was discussed?"

 

"Time, starting location, distribution of the drug, and the person organizing it."

 

Bogo let out a low whistle. "I'm surprised that you managed to get away after they divulged all those details."

 

"They weren't exactly in a position to stop me. There was a dispute, and my cousin and one of them got into a fist fight. The other hyena grabbed me and tried to do the same. I managed to get out of his grip and then made him charge into a dumpster. It knocked him out."

 

Bogo nodded. "Give me all the pertinent details you can remember, and then you can go file your official report." Nick sighed, but nodded and took another deep breath.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

Judy woke up the next morning to find Lily rooting through her fridge, an energy drink and a coffee sitting on the table beside the door.

 

"Why don't you have any good food to eat?" Lily called out as Judy sat up. "Like, what do you live off of, Carrots-for-One?"

 

Judy groaned. She hadn't had Carrots-for-One since her first day on the force. Come to think of it, she hadn't even had _those_ ; every time she tried to cook them, they just shrivelled up and became hard as rocks.

 

"Heck, no. Have you ever actually tried to eat one of those things? They're completely inedible! Believe me, it's just disgusting."

 

"So then what do you eat? Because you have nothing in your fridge except for some blueberries, and even for rabbits, those aren't enough for a meal."

 

"The blueberries are for Nick," Judy shrugged. "He loves them, and ever since my parents found out that their blueberries helped us solve the case, they send up a basket for us to enjoy every once in a while." Lily laughed.

 

"And the rest of your non-existent food?"

 

Judy shrugged. "I need to do some grocery shopping."

 

"Uh, yeah!" There was a pause. "Speaking of Nick, by the way, he sent you a text this morning. I was going to ask why his icon is a blueberry, but I think I figured it out."

 

"Were you going through my phone?"

 

"I heard it go off this morning and I thought it was mine; it's become a knee-jerk reaction for me, since my boss at the daycare likes to send me regular good morning texts with a list of the day's activities that she has planned. Unlike me, though, you've got a password on it."

 

Judy was already reading through her messages. Her ears drooped a little bit while reading Nick's, but then perked up with a sudden idea when reading the other one. "Hey, since there's nothing in the fridge, would you like to join me and some friends for brunch?"

 

Lily looked up from the fridge to give her friend a look that said, _obviously_. "Let me put on something that makes me look a little bit less like a hobo," she said, indicating her dishevelled pyjamas. "Getting a morning coffee like this is one thing, but going out to brunch? Totally another." Judy sent a quick reply to the message.

 

30 minutes later the two of them were ready. They made their way down to the front of the apartment building. Judy leaned up against the post at the bottom of the steps. Lily shot her a questioning look, but waited beside her friend without comment. A few minutes later a long white limousine turned the corner and rolled up in front of the pair. From the driver's door stepped a familiar black jaguar wearing a chauffeur's uniform.

 

"Mr. Manchas!" Judy called, bouncing over to give the big cat a hug. Lily just stood there with her mouth open as the two embraced.

 

"Good morning, Officer Hopps," the jaguar purred. "You're looking spry, as ever."

 

Judy laughed. "It's hard not to be. Mr. Manchas," she added, looking over her shoulder at Lily, "this is my best friend Lily. Lily, this is Mr. Manchas; he's a friend of mine and one of the predators that Nick and I helped rescue during the Night Howler incident."

 

"P-pleasure to meet you," Lily said, still recovering from the shock of seeing her friend be so cozy with such a large predator.

 

"Likewise," Mr. Manchas replied. "Speaking of your partner, Officer, will we be retrieving Officer Wilde today?"

 

"No, he got called in to work unexpectedly."

 

"Ah, that is a shame."

 

Judy nodded, but then her ears perked back up. "Could we stop by the Riverside Inn on the way instead? Lily's partner is waiting for us there." Mr. Manchas nodded and smiled again.

 

"Of course. Please, have a seat." He pulled open the door and Judy climbed right in, Lily following only a moment behind.

***

If Nick had known that his report was going to get him landed with an extra shift on his day off, he might have held off on submitting it until the next day.

 

 _No,_ he reflected as he sat in the passenger seat of the beat-up Jeep. _That's what I would have done in my old life. Not anymore. Not since meeting Judy._

 

It was true that the bunny had changed him (for the better, he decided in most cases), and he found out the extent of that more and more every day. Not that that was always a bad thing, but he almost found it annoying how easy it was for her to influence him.

 

He thought back to the briefing that the chief had given him. Get in, help plant the narcs, and get out before getting caught. Simple, right? Especially since the two he was working with were experience undercover operatives who had been pulled from other areas to get to the bottom of this one. He was almost glad; the less he had to do with the rumbling case, the better. Still, he was the one who had to get them in.

 

The two operatives in question - a grizzled timbre wolf and a badger that looked to be the same age as Nick - had only given him their codenames. Bogo wasn't particularly inclined to reveal their real identities, for security reasons. Greyson Wolfe was the one driving, Nick beside him, and Lucas Blackfur sitting behind the two.

 

They arrived at the location that Ricky had set up. When he'd contacted his cousin saying he'd found a few people that wanted to help him out, Ricky had seemed in equal parts excited and suspicious. So he'd arranged to meet them out in public so that they could discuss… whatever it is they were going to discuss.

 

The three of them stepped out of the car. From what they'd said, they always arrived early and were the first to get out of the car. That was the first step to getting others to trust them. It allowed the other party to scope them out and decide for themselves that they had nothing to worry about.

 

"This had better be the place, Wilde," Wolfe growled. "If I drove through this shithole of a town for nothing, you'll be sorry." Behind him, the badger cracked his knuckles.

 

"Oh relax, we're still a few minutes early; and besides, Ricky was never really known for his punctuality." They had discussed their pre-meeting banter in the car so Nick wouldn't get too unnerved. Still, Nick had to act out the part that he wasn't exactly here on his own free will. That was also part of the plan, seeing as Ricky had seen Nick in his police uniform already; they didn't want to take the chance of his cousin thinking it was a setup.

 

Wolfe glared. Nick returned the gesture with his trademark smile and the air of confidence that he had perfected from years of working as a con artist.

 

Just then they heard a soft, growling laugher coming from down the mouth of the alley that they'd parked at. Nick looked over and his heart fell a little bit, though he didn't let it show in his expression or posture.

 

From the other end of the alley, Ricky was approaching with a tiger on each side. All three were dressed in black, though Ricky's leather jacket was studded with silver spikes on the shoulders. As usual, the fur on his head was gelled up into a mohawk.

 

"Well, well, well," Ricky called out when the two groups were still 10 feet away from each other. "Look's like you're feeling better from last night's playtime. And who are these two clowns, Nicky?"

 

"Greyson Wolfe and Lucas Blackfur," Nick said, indicating each in turn. "They seem to have a particular interest in what you've got going on, and who am I to turn down a mammal in need?"

 

The tigers started growling. Ricky, on the other hand, seemed to look at Nick's companions in a new light. "Blackfur? Like, son of _Jameson_ Blackfur?" The badger nodded, and both the tigers instantly stopped growling. Ricky gave Nick a meaningful look before turning back to Nick's companions with a grin. "So, what can we do for you today, Mr. Blackfur, Mr. Wolfe?"

 

"We understand that you are planning a rumbling," Wolfe replied. "My associate and I have an interest in helping this venture succeed. Though perhaps we should discuss this more in private…?"

 

"Of course. But, uh…" Ricky's confident, sleazy grin turned almost sheepish as he looked at the pair. "Is it me specifically you'd like to talk to? Or my boss?"

 

Out of the corner of his eye, Nick noticed Wolfe go incredibly still. Blackfur stepped in closer behind him. _Uh oh,_ he thought.

 

"WILDE!" Wolfe's shout was so loud that he even made the tigers jump, and it echoed off the walls. Nick flinched, all pretence of calm now gone, and noticed Ricky do the same. It was obvious who they were talking to, however, when they turned on Nick. He backed up quickly from the snarling jowls in front of him, only to bump into the badger behind him. Ears pressed flat against his head and tail fluffed up, Nick felt himself being backed up against the wall.

 

It was hard to remember that he wasn't in any real danger when the grizzled timbre wolf was snarling at him, the badger flexing his long claws, and the tigers prowling behind.

 

"I thought you said that this fox here is the one _organizing_ this event. You never mentioned anything about his boss!" Nick flinched again at the wolf's words.

 

"H-hey, take it easy there fellas… I don't quite recall ever saying-"

 

"Hold on there, Mr. Blackfur, Mr. Wolfe." Nick was never so glad to hear his cousin open his mouth. The two of them turned around, as did the tigers. "Nick here had no inclination that I wasn't the big boss of this whole shtick. All he knew was that I had a connection of some kind. So, in all reality, not his fault."

 

"You're pretty cocky, for such a tiny predator." Even the gel couldn't have made Ricky's fur bristle as much as it did at that comment.

 

"You're pretty cocky for someone facing down two tigers with nothing but a badger by your side."

 

"A badger whose family is paying the salaries of those tigers." The tigers looked at each other and quickly stepped away from Ricky. He, realizing that his backup had backed up, backtracked.

 

"Look, all I'm trying to say, Nicky didn't know shit about anything that's happening with this. He's just popped up here as a middle man, somehow."

 

Ricky's comments didn't do anything to make Wolfe and Blackfur relax, but they did give Nick a considering glare and took a few steps back. "Fine. Wilde, get out of here. We have business to discuss with your cousin."

 

"Wilde me, or-"

 

"NICHOLAS WILDE! GET OUT!"

 

Blackfur moved aside and Nick scrambled out of the alleyway and back onto the street.

***

"I can't believe this worked as well as it did, Wilde. You made an admirable handler."

 

Coming from Chief Bogo, that was high praise. Nick couldn't help but sit up straighter as he faced the cape buffalo across the latter's desk. Even the itch at Nick's neck from the too-tight collar of his police dress blues couldn't darken his mood.

 

"Thank you, Chief. It's always a pleasure to serve and protect the citizens of Zootopia."

 

Bogo narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if the fox was being sarcastic or sincere. Deciding it didn't matter, he continued. "From what Wolfe and Blackfur have reported to us, Ricky is arranging a meeting with the person who is organizing - and presumably, funding - this whole operation. Both of them will be at said meeting, but if we can, we'd also like to put you on the inside as well."

 

That shattered Nick's good mood, though he didn't let Bogo know that. "Now why would you want to do that? I mean, if you've already got Agents number 1 & 2 on a leash inside the case, why would you want little old me?"

 

"You're a predator." Nick could feel his muzzle go cold as the blood drained away from it. The way that Bogo said that word, the contemptuous glare that he gave Nick for the briefest of moments, reminded him far too much of the way prey had looked at him during the Night Howler Incident.

 

" _A predator." "He's just a predator." "Don't go near him, that fox could go savage at any moment." "They should all be muzzled."_

 

Nick shuddered, remembering the last comment that he'd heard before going off and 'relaxing' for a week after Judy's comment at the press conference. Every single prey animal that he'd met had said it that way, as if it were a disease or something.

 

"There are plenty of other predators on the force, too," the fox reminded him. "Ones that have more experience and more-"

 

"Enough, Wilde. You'll be the one we send in. You have an in already, and if things go awry, you're a small enough predator that you won't be able to cause too much damage before we remove you from the situation."

 

Nick's ears flattened against his head. "You almost sound like you're expecting things to go wrong, Chief."

 

Bogo replied with his usual disgruntled stare but gave no verbal response.

 

"You're dismissed, Wilde. I want your full report on the operation this morning on my desk before you leave today."

 

Nick stopped at the door. “One question. Is that badger _actually_ the son of Jameson Blackfur?”

 

Bogo glared at him. “You’re not the only ex-con on the force, Wilde.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

"I still can't believe it!" Lily said for the hundredth time since they'd climbed back into the limo after brunch. Fru Fru and her husband had treated the two of them to a lovely meal at a five star restaurant in Tundratown that was owned by one of her uncles. It was originally supposed to be Nick that was going with Judy, but Fru Fru thankfully understood when Judy told her that he had been called in to work.

 

Judy looked back at her friend. "What? Is it really that crazy that I might have made a few friends in the year that I've been here?"

 

"A few friends, yeah; but like, someone as rich as Fru Fru? Or the jaguar that's driving us?" she added, lowering her voice.

 

"You get to know people of all kinds in my line of work."

 

"No kidding!" Judy just laughed.

 

They dropped Lily and Mark off at their hotel so they could explore a little bit and do the tourist thing, and Mr. Manchas then drove Judy home. "Have a pleasant afternoon, Officer Hopps."

 

"You too! Drive safe!" The jaguar gave her a grin before stepping back into the driver's seat.

 

Judy went up to her apartment and grabbed a glass of water. You could only have so much seaweed for brunch before you had to drink something, and she was just dying of thirst. Pouring herself a second after downing the first, Judy sat at her desk and set about making herself a grocery list. She found it helpful to avoid buying too much - especially of junk food. Not that she didn't appreciate a good bowl of ice cream after a long day at work, but the last thing she wanted was to spend too much money on things she didn't need - especially when she couldn't necessarily afford them.

 

Nick sent her a text while she was at the supermarket. _Should be finished by 2. Need a wardrobe upgrade. Wanna come?_ She giggled to herself and replied with an affirmative. It was about time that he stopped wearing those horrible green Hawaiian shirts.

***

Judy found it surprisingly fun shopping for the fox as opposed to herself; he would put on the goofiest outfits just to make her laugh, but he actually had a good sense of fashion when he wanted to. They'd picked out a few new collared shirts and casual ties that he could wear whenever he wasn't in uniform - all of them some shade of green minus the palm tree print that his old ones had.

 

They returned to Nick's house with their purchases. Now that she was arriving sober, she actually noticed the details.

 

The house itself was clearly very old. Faded paint covered the front porch and railing, peeling on the door that swung slightly in the breeze on rusty hinges. It, along with the shingles, were a deep green in colour, a few shades darker than the dappled leaves in the trees behind it. Some parts seemed to be falling into disrepair - from what she could see of the side of the one storey house, it looked like there had been a fire - but overall the small building seemed nice. Judy knew from experience that the inside was much cosier than the outside.

 

Once they were in Nick's bedroom, Judy saw the reason Nick had all of a sudden decided to change his wardrobe. "What happened to your clothes? It looks like you got mauled or something!"

 

"Maybe, but you should see the other guy." Nick's smile dropped as the rabbit shot him a glare. "I swung by Ricky's place on a tip from Finnick that he was sending the pictures he took of us around to some of his raver buddies. Figured it was better to get it off the streets before it got around to the wrong people and they assumed we were a pred-prey couple."

 

Judy's ears twitched. "Why would that matter?" Nick looked at her and gave an incredulous laugh. "What's so funny?"

 

"Have you never seen the looks people give pred-prey couples before?"

 

"Well…"

 

"Have you ever come across a pred-prey couple?"

 

"Not really, no."

 

Nick shook his head. "Let's just say that very few people are open to the idea."

 

Judy wanted to ask what he meant, but sensed that she probably didn't want to know - or that Nick didn't want to tell her. Instead, she asked, "So what happened with your clothes? Don't tell me he attacked you!"

 

Nick shook his head again. "After about 20 minutes of arguing with him over it, he agreed to let me delete them if I went with him to talk to these two goons about the rumbling. Things got a little heated at this discussion and the two hyenas involved tried to claw us a bit. We beat them and got out of there, and I deleted the pictures.”

 

“Did you report the assault? Just because we’re police officers, doesn’t mean they won’t go after those guys.”

 

“I wasn’t going to, but after I was done I went to drop the other information I'd gleaned into the case file. Bogo caught me on the way in and pretty well demanded answers to the same questions you just did."

 

"Is that why you got called in today, even though it's supposed to be your day off?"

 

Nick nodded. Instead of saying anything, however, he just started hanging up his new shirts in the closet. After a moment, Judy started to help him.

 

She was just about to probe a little deeper and try to get a better answer to her questions when Nick spoke up again.

 

"Bogo wanted me to be part of an insertion team today. A wolf and a badger. The badger was supposedly the son of Jameson Blackfur, one of Zootopia's other major crime bosses."

 

"Insertion team? You don't mean-"

 

Nick nodded in confirmation. Judy noticed that his shoulders dropped and his ears fell flat against his head. "Undercover agents. And he wants me to join them before the rumbling, to help keep an eye on things."

 

Judy's mind was reeling with the implications. Nick was a new officer, and not nearly experienced enough - or trusted enough by the brass - to go undercover in such a large-scale operation. At least, that had been her assumption.

 

"But that would be putting you at risk, wouldn't it? I mean, the regular undercover agents - Wolfe and Blackfur - they know what they're getting into when they get assignments like this. But this isn't what you signed up for, and this is dangerous! What if you get hurt?"

 

"I guess it doesn't matter, does it? I mean, I am just a predator, and a small one at that. Easy to contain if something happens."

 

The disgust in his voice made it clear exactly who had made that observation. It was rare that Nick opened up, but more than anything it was after an issue with Chief Bogo. The cape buffalo seemed to have a way to get under Nick's skin like no one else could; it had been right after he'd accused Nick of being untrustworthy during the Night Howler case that Nick had opened up to her for the first time. It hadn't been the last.

 

"Nick…"

 

The fox took a deep breath, then straightened up as he let it out. By the time he'd turned around again, he was back to his usual, devil-may-care self. "So, what do you have planned for the rest of your day off, Carrots?"

 

Judy wanted to pursue it, but she knew that once Nick had closed off his emotions, that was it. He'd just get irritated if you continued to chase them.

 

"Some of my friends from back home are in town for a visit and they wanted to go to dinner tonight. They also want to meet you. They've heard so much about the Infamous Nick Wilde, who helped solve the Night Howler case by pocketing some blueberries from our family's truck."

 

"Only good things, I'd guess?"

 

"They all heard how you went savage and tried to kill me." There was a smile on her face, but it made Nick's tail fluff up nonetheless. That was the only indication he gave, though, and even that was surprising. It was only around Judy that his usual composure seemed to slip out of his grasp.

 

"Ha, ha. I bet they also all heard how it was me that came up with the plan in the first place?"

 

"Of course."

 

Nick gave her a considering look. "I'm surprised your friends from back home would want to meet a fox like me; unless these fox fetishes are a lot more common in bunnies than I thought they were." Judy's ear's dropped like anchors at sea and he could almost feel the blush creeping up under her fur. "I mean, there's plenty of me to go around, but I'm almost certain that you'd probably like to keep me all to yourself…"

 

"N-Nick! That's… that's not what I meant!" He was surprised at how flustered she was getting; normally she would just laugh off comments like this. But now it seemed like she was almost considering it.

 

"Oh relax, dumb bunny. I'm just joking around with you. You need to lighten up a little bit." Then a sudden thought struck him. "They don't know that I'm a fox yet, do they."

 

Suddenly the fluster was gone, replaced by pure embarrassment. "I… No," Judy replied after a moment. Her answer didn't surprise Nick, but it did sting slightly. "It shouldn't be a problem, though," the rabbit added hastily. "Both of them work with a wide variety of animals, both predator and prey, and Lily even helps raise them! She's a childcare worker at a local daycare, and so she very quickly grew out of any bias she had against foxes."

 

Like _that_ was reassuring. After the day he'd had, the last thing he wanted to do was go to dinner with more bigoted rabbits. Of course, if they were friends with Judy, they probably weren't the type to judge based on species. He hoped. Plus he'd wanted to spend some quality time with her since before they'd started the Happytown Fiends case, and tonight after the dinner seemed like the perfect time.

 

He sighed. "Oh, fine, if I have to." Judy jumped up, squealing, and wrapped him in a hug that he was pretty sure could technically be considered a chokehold had she been any larger.

***

Lily and Mark had decided to grab a cab home. Unfortunately, neither Nick nor Judy had a car so they couldn't drive the pair. That was fine with them, though; it gave the two partners a chance to talk as they walked back to Judy's apartment. It hadn't been intentional, for Nick to walk her home, but it felt natural to have him fall into step beside her in the darkness.

 

"That went better than expected."

 

"See? I told you that there was nothing to worry about!"

 

While both Lily and Mark had been shocked to see Judy show up on the arm of a fox, they had quickly recovered and both had warmed up to him in no time. The bottle of wine that he'd ordered for them also probably hadn't hurt.

 

They'd gone to a vegan restaurant in the Rainforest District that Nick had been meaning to bring Judy to for months. They had a wonderful assortment of fruit, vegetables, and nuts, and they'd wrap it all up in one of their famous selections of homemade flatbreads or sourdoughs. Plus it was one of the few places in the whole city that you could find a good blueberry wine. Of course, as only Nick was partial to that, he had ordered a bottle of spiced red wine for their table instead.

 

He scratched at his open collar. Judy had insisted that he leave the collar button and the one right below it undone, and roll up the sleeves of the green shirt. She'd also insisted that he leave the tie at home. Nick felt a little exposed without it.

 

They passed a brilliantly lit fountain right in the heart of the Fruit Market, a bustling market for all things fruity during the day and a haven for street performers at night. Nick, deciding that it was a good time for a selfie, grabbed Judy by the shoulder and spun her around so her back was to the fountain. He pulled out his Pawphone and said, "Smile!" before snapping a few pictures.

 

"Did you get my good side?"

 

Nick smirked at his partner. "Do you even need to ask?" Nick always got her good side. How else did one get over 1300 followers on Instamam(mal)?

 

She returned his smile with a giggle and crowded in to see the pictures. He was suddenly very aware of her head pressed right up against his, and of her paws on his shoulders. Not that he minded.

 

They stepped off the subway just over a half-hour later in Judy's neighbourhood, still chatting away about this and that and not really caring about where the conversation led. It was fun, it was more comfortable than either of them had felt with another animal since they were young, and it ended all too soon.

 

Nick was a gentleman and walked her up to the door, even going so far as to hold it open for her. He didn't know why, but it felt like the situation called for it. His mother had always taught him to do that for a lady, especially when taking her on a date. Just as he was about to turn away after saying goodbye, however, she reached up, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him in for a kiss.

 

To say that Nick was not expecting it would be a gross understatement. To say that he enjoyed it would be an even bigger understatement. And as he felt the soft lips of the little bunny in front of him press into his own, breathing in the smell of her fur, he let himself relax a little bit and curled his own arms around her body, pulling her in tightly against his chest.

 

Finally, the kiss broke off, and she looked up at him with the purest expression of bliss and happiness that he'd ever seen. And looking deep into her violet eyes, he felt his own facial features melt into a mirror image.

 

He would have been comfortable to stay in that position for the rest of the night, just staring into Judy's eyes (and maybe sharing another kiss). But when she lifted her paws off his shoulders, he let her go easily.

 

"Bye, Nick!" she called again, still trying to catch her breath. He smiled back and offered her a mock salute before turning and walking back down the steps, a warm feeling in his chest.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

Nick was just walking out of the bullpen when he saw the ears of a jackal poking up through the crowd. Pushing his way through the crowd of disgruntled and obviously uncomfortable mammals that always seemed to pack the lobby of the police station, he came upon some features that were both familiar and strange.

 

"Well hello again, Ms. Raza," Nick said, grinning at the jackal. She provided him with a soft smile of her own. The jackal by her side growled softly as he saw the fox approach. "And this must be your brother?"

 

Chloe Raza nodded. "Yes, officer. This is my brother Carter. Is there a chance we could speak with you and Officer Hopps? Alone?"

 

"Of course. Follow me." Nick led them up to the second floor and to the cubicle he shared with Judy. They got a lot of funny looks from the other officers, and from the persistent growling that Chloe Raza's brother was doing, Nick could tell that they were feeling the animosity in those looks. He pulled Judy's seat away from her desk and put it beside his own, offering them to the two jackals. It comforted him slightly that he was eye level with the two, now that they were seated. "So, what can I help you with today?"

 

"Should we not wait for Officer Hopps?"

 

Nick shook his head. "Officer Hopps is off today and won't be appearing at the station until tomorrow morning, at the earliest."

 

The pair of jackals looked at each other, then the male, Carter, licked his lips. "My sister told me that you and your partner arrived the other day at our door to ask us some questions regarding jackals that had moved to the city recently?"

 

"We did."

 

"Have you received any leads about them so far?"

 

Nick eased himself back onto Judy's desk as he studied the two mammals in front of him. They both seemed nervous about sitting there, but Chloe Raza, at least, had a soft smile still on her lips. Carter Raza met his eye at one point, and Nick was surprised to see so much vulnerability in his gaze. His ears drooped slightly as he realized that Carter Raza, for all his muscle and tough-guy attitude, was just as vulnerable as Nick inside.

 

Recovering from his shock, Nick returned to his former position. "We have a few potential leads, but anything you can tell us is helpful."

 

Carter took a deep breath, and Chloe put a paw on his shoulder. He squeezed her leg in return.

 

"There is a… less-than-legitimate section of Dusty's Casino hidden underground beneath the building. In it are tunnels that lead to the Sahara Square Nocturnal district." Nick nodded absent-mindedly. He'd been there a few times over the years, mainly to pay off debts to the casino. He had gambled a fair amount when he was young. "Recently, we have noticed that more and more jackals go through these tunnels, and many of them have strange mannerisms upon their return."

 

Nick dropped his classic grin and looked at the jackals pensively. He pulled out a pad of paper and jotted down a few quick notes. "Do you have any inclination as to why their behaviour is suddenly different?"

 

Yes," Carter rasped out after a moment. Nick wondered if the rasping voice was a trait common to all jackals, or if it was acquired through smoking. Nick had noticed that the other jackals that he and Judy had come into contact with in their investigation all tended toward a tobacco dependency.

 

"Officer Wilde, please understand that we are only coming to you to discuss this because our cousin is one of these jackals who has gone missing," Chloe Raza added. "She was only coming to stay with us for a few days, but then disappeared two nights past. Since you seem to already be working on the case, we thought it best to come to you with this new disappearance."

 

Nick suddenly felt a little guilty that he had lied to them, but knew he was in too deep to try and back out of it now - especially with the information that he now suspected that they had regarding their actual case. He pushed it to the side; guilt wouldn't help him now.

 

"Okay. If you can tell me what you know about why the behaviour of these jackals is changing suddenly, then we can move on to a description of your cousin and the last place you saw her afterwards. Is that okay?" The two jackals nodded, hesitating for only a heartbeat.

 

"It is because of a drug that has started circulating called Scorpion. It alters a person's mind, makes them hallucinate - the last time I saw our cousin, she believed she was in the deserts of her grandfather's home, and could not seem to recall who we were or what we were doing there."

 

"And do you know where they might have gotten this drug?"

 

"In these tunnels under the casino. They live there, in tiny recesses in the walls at the end of an unfinished tunnel. They have set themselves up as gods, and people must bring them an offering to be admitted, but they do, and they come back… different."

 

"What do you mean, 'they'?" Nick asked, starting to feel uncomfortable.

 

"The jackals. Those that are selling this drug."

 

"How do get into the tunnels from the casino?"

 

"There is a door hidden in the store-cupboard at the back of the underground section. The store-cupboard will be marked employees only."

 

Nick jotted that all down, then nodded at the two. "Thank you. Now, tell me about your missing cousin.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

Judy was halfway to the station when she got the text from Nick.

 

_Running late. Overslept. Pick me up a coffee?_

 

She shook her head good-naturedly and took a quick detour into a local café. She was early, so why not?

 

She got to the station at the same time as Nick, who looked slightly surprised to see her there. "Shouldn't you be in the bullpen by now?"

 

"We've still got five minutes," she replied.

 

Nick checked his phone. "Huh, what do you know?" He reached for the coffee in her right hand.

 

"Nuh-uh, that's mine. _This_ one's yours." She handed him the other cup.

 

"Since when do you drink coffee?" He popped the tab on the lid and took a sip.

 

"It's hot chocolate; the air was a little nippy this morning. So, catch me up: anything interesting happen yesterday?"

 

"Delgato cracked the raccoons, Chloe Raza came by with her brother, and I did some snooping around at Dusty's Casino."

 

"Okay, the first two parts I understand, but why Dusty's?"

 

He gave her his trademark grin. "There's nothing wrong with a little fun and - Ow!" She punched him with her free hand. Even that had hurt; was this bunny ambidextrous or was that just a mean left hook? "Well now I think I might just keep that information to myself, dumb bunny."

 

"NI-ICK!" The fox just laughed.

 

Judy caught Delgato's eye when they walked into the bullpen and she gave him a big grin and a thumbs up, mouthing _raccoons_ , which the tiger returned with a lazy smile of his own.

 

"The Razas gave testimony that the casino was involved in the case, in addition to a missing-mammals report for their cousin - last seen heading into the Skulk's Den in the building's basement. So, after they left, I thought I'd go and check it out."

 

"Did you find anything?"

 

"Yeah. Already submitted. I'll show you later." Chief Bogo just walked into the bullpen.

 

Bogo cleared his throat and the room went silent. "Alright, everyone, listen up. Today's going to be a busy day, and we want to act fast. Officers McHorn, Francine, Stronghorn, you'll continue with your respective cases. Anderson, you'll be joining McHorn; we'll need Fangmeyer today. The rest of you! We just got a warrant an hour ago to search Dusty's Casino for missing persons and illegal narcotics. Wilde got an anonymous tip yesterday about access tunnels to the Sahara Square Nocturnal district hidden in the basement. I want everyone in full SWAT gear. We're ready and in position by 0930. Sergeant Taggert, you're in the lead for this operation. Dismissed!" Everyone immediately jumped out of their seats and started for the door.

 

"Hopps, Wilde," Bogo called after them as they were on their way. "A word, please, in my office." The two of them glanced at each other nervously before following the chief up the stairs to his office on the fourth floor. The chief sat down heavily in his chair. Judy and Nick sat down opposite.

 

“Neither of you are going to be participating in the raid today.” The two officers both jumped up immediately and started to protest, but Bogo slammed his fist on the desk so hard that they both fell back in surprise. “Hopps, you’re small prey, and the mammals that we’re dealing with are ferocious and possibly psychotic; in this instance you’re much more of a liability than an asset. Wilde, we still need you to infiltrate the rumbling, _and_ this meeting between Wolfe, Blackfur, and whoever is funding this whole conspiracy. As such, we can’t risk letting any of them see you in dress blues again.

 

“The two of you are going to this meeting tonight. Wilde, you’ll be infiltrating in plainclothes; Hopps, you’ll be on surveillance with Agent Mara Aztai of the ABI. They requested you two specifically for this mission.”

 

“The-the ABI?” Nick’s ears were pressed flat against his head and his eyes were wide. He looked almost… scared.

 

“Yes, Wilde; the ABI. They requested you specifically, and you’re going to be working with them tonight. What part of that wasn’t clear to you?”

 

“Nick?” Judy asked softly, laying a paw on his arm. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 

“I’m fine,” he murmured to Judy, though his expression didn’t change and his fur continued to fluff. Out loud, he said, “Sorry, sir, I just wanted to make sure that I had heard correctly; I didn’t realize the ZPD called in the ABI to deal with small narcotics cases like this.”

 

“The Animalia Bureau of Investigations is here because of the rumbling of which your cousin has so graciously and indirectly informed us. The last time it happened, we had mass chaos and hysteria. We also had roughly double the number of officers that we do now; budget cuts have hit the police force hard. Therefore, the ABI is taking over and calling in some extra help to make sure that we’re able to contain it. Do you have an issue with that, Officer Wilde?”

 

“No, sir.”

 

“Good. Both of you are dismissed for now. Agent Aztai will pick you both up at 1800 hours from Officer Hopp’s apartment. Don’t be late.”

***

The two left Bogo’s office, and Nick almost immediately barrelled into an empty conference room a few doors down. Judy was just in time to scamper through the door before he closed and locked it.

 

He pressed his back up against the door and started taking great, heaving breaths. His eyes were closed.

 

“Nick?” Judy asked in a small voice, then again, louder. “Nick, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” He gave a brief shake of his head and started to slide down the door, still taking huge breaths, in and out. He was shaking violently.

 

Judy suddenly realized what was happening. “Nick, you’re okay. You’ll be okay. You’re here with me. You’re safe. Nothing can hurt you.” She kept repeating it like a mantra, with occasional additions of “Just breathe, deep breaths, just like that.” At one point Nick reached out a paw and Judy gave him hers. He crushed it in a death grip but she didn’t complain; she just kept on repeating her words.

 

Eventually, the panic attack subsided. Nick’s breathing returned to normal, and he let go of her paw. She tried to massage it slightly, but it only made things worse.

 

“Thank you,” he panted, slowly lowering himself down until he was lying on the floor, his head cradled in the crook of his arm.

 

Judy tentatively reached over and stroked his head, from just behind his eye, over his ear, down to the collar on his neck. He tensed at first, but then slowly relaxed as he realized what she was doing. They stayed there like that, him lying on the ground, her sitting beside him and gently stroking the soft orange fur of his face and neck.

 

After about a half hour of that, Nick finally sat up again and leaned up against the door. His eyes stayed closed.

 

Judy scooted up next to him and leaned her head against his shoulder. “So, what was that all about?”

 

It took Nick a few minutes to respond. “When-“ He coughed and tried again. “When I was a little kid, the – they burst through the front door as I was on my way up to bed. Guns pointed at my mom and I while two of them – wolves, I think – tackled my father to the ground. They took him away, and they questioned my mom in our living room for hours. I was locked up in my room, forced to listen to my mom cry and… and…” His breaths were starting to get heavy again. Judy grabbed his paw in her own (the non-injured one) and got ready to resume her mantra, but Nick seemed to fight it off before it could start again.

 

“Do you think you’ll be able to do this tonight?”

 

Her partner swallowed but nodded. “I-I should be good… As long as I don’t have too much exposure… It should… it should be fine.” Judy looked at him with a concerned expression. He opened one of his eyes and met hers for a moment before closing it again. “Can we get out of here?”

 

Judy helped her partner to his feet. He was visibly shaking, but he seemed to get more and more strength back with every breath he took. After a few more minutes steadying himself on the doorknob, he gave her a small nod and they walked back out into the hallway.

 

Nick stopped at the second floor. “I’ll be right back, I’m just going to go use the washroom.”

 

“Lovely,” Judy said, wrinkling her nose. “Just don’t expect me to come in with you.” She walked with him to the bathroom door, then once it had closed, she hopped over to Sergeant Taggert’s office. The tiger was just about to leave. “Hey, Sergeant!”

 

“Officer Hopps,” the feline purred. “I take it, since you’re not in uniform, that the chief wouldn’t let you join us in the SWAT?” Judy nodded the affirmative. “I figured as much; small animals such as yourself are easier targets for the enemy to grab as hostages. So, what can I do for you? I’m assuming that you had some urgent query to ask me.”

 

“I was just wondering if I could sign out a patrol car. Officer Wilde is feeling really ill and it would probably be best if he didn’t have to take the subway home.”

 

“Go ahead. Quickly, though; I’m supposed to be getting down to the equipment locker shortly.”

 

“I’ll be quick as a jiffy!” It only took a few moments for Judy to fill out the necessary file and grab the keys, and then Taggert was locking the office behind them and turned off in the opposite direction.

 

Nick walked out of the washroom looking a lot better than when he had gone in, though Judy could tell he was still shaken. They walked together down to the underground parking lot beneath the station. Nick seemed to have guessed what she had done, because he went right over to their usual cruiser and parked himself in the passenger seat.

 

“What’s your address again?”

 

“1955 Cypress Grove Lane.” She typed it into the SUV’s GPS and pulled out of the parking garage. “If I’d known we were going to get the night shift tonight, I wouldn’t have ordered a coffee.”

 

Judy let out a soft sigh of relief. If Nick was joking again, then he was doing a lot better. She was glad; it had been unnerving, to say the least, to see her partner as much a mess as he was. She couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if he’d been having a major panic attack.

 

“Did you even have any of that coffee? I could’ve sworn you forgot it in the bullpen!”

 

The smile dropped from his face. “Oh, crap. Carrots! We have to go back! I forgot my coffee!”

 

“Weren’t you just saying how you’d rather not have ordered it, ya dumb fox?”

 

Nick chuckled. “Sly bunny. Funny enough, it seems like I’ve ended up calling you that a lot more lately than the other way around.”

 

“I guess it’s just easier for this bunny to outwit you than it is for you to outwit her.”

 

“You mean other than that kiss the other night? Because I feel like you’d have to be pretty sly to convince a bunny to make out with a fox.” He grinned at her, but the smile had dropped off her face.

 

“Nick, about that…”

 

He instantly regretted his words. “Sorry, Carrots, forget I said anything.”

 

“No, Nick, I want to talk to you about what happened.”

 

“You don’t have to worry; I wasn’t trying to take advantage of you at all with that kiss and, believe me, I almost jumped out of my fur when I realized what was happening! But I also know how alcohol affects people; you wouldn’t be the first animal of a different species to regret kissing the handsome fox after a few drinks.”

 

Judy felt a sudden pang of jealousy thinking about Nick kissing other animals, much like she had when he had given Chloe Raza that smile of his. “Nick, that’s not what I meant.”

 

She slowed down in front of the stone bridge that led across to his house, and only then did Nick realize exactly how fast they’d have to be going to get there so quickly. “Didn’t you say that you’d worked time on traffic detail? Wouldn’t that have made you _less_ likely to go 40 miles over the speed limit while cruising through downtown?”

 

“Nick.” She parked the car in front of his house and turned to look at him. He was surprised by the serious expression on her face. “It wasn’t the alcohol that made me kiss you, and I sure as heck don’t regret it.”

 

His ears pressed almost flat against his head in surprise as he looked at her. She seemed a little bit nervous, a little bit scared, and very determined. He thought he could see where this was going. “Carrots…”

 

Faster than he would have thought possible, she was across the seat, a hand on each of his cheeks, and her lips pressed against his. The rabbit’s body radiated heat, her passion pouring through their connection and igniting a fire in his belly. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the emotions rippling under his fur, his mind was in turmoil, and the only coherent thought that he could process was that he never wanted it to end.

 

Judy broke off the kiss after what seemed like an eternity but was over all too soon. She was breathing as heavily as she had been after the first time they kissed. She looked at Nick for a few moments, a definite blush peeking through under her silver fur.

 

Nick stayed with his ears pressed flat in shock, eyes wide. He stared at the bunny as he slowly started to piece together what was happening.

 

_Oh, crap._

_OH CRAP._

 

Nick knew he should say something, anything, to assuage the fear he’d seen in her eyes. But the longer he tried to process everything, the less he found himself able to speak.

 

Judy grew more and more uncomfortable as the heartbeats ticked by without the fox saying anything. Suddenly, however, that discomfort and uncertainty morphed into hurt and resentment. “Never mind. I guess I was just being a dumb bunny to think that you could feel the same way about me. But I thought that you’d at least have the courtesy to tell me to my face, and not just mess around with me like this, Nick.”

 

The bunny liked him. Physically, sexually, emotionally, romantically. He didn’t know which, but he did know that the feelings were there.

 

“No, wait, I-I didn’t… that’s not what I’m doing here!”

 

Did he feel the same way? He had enjoyed both of their kisses; he’d been a gentleman to her – something he hadn’t done since his mom died when he was 17 – and flirting with her seemed different somehow, as if he was a kit dipping his toe into the water to test it before diving in, which was unlike his usual style. But did that really mean that he’d fallen for Judy Hopps?

 

“Then what does your silence mean, Officer Wilde?” Nick flinched at the venom in her voice. She was wearing a steely expression that would have put Mr. Big’s own to shame.

 

Every time he looked at her she drew a genuine smile to his face. He couldn’t help it. There was just something about that friendly grin, those big, exuberant violet eyes, the sheer happiness that she seemed to radiate out of every pore in her body, wherever she went and whenever he saw her. And every time she looked at him, her eyes seemed to light up even more, and her smile would get just a little bit wider.

 

“I… I…”

 

When they first met he’d called her cute. Chalked it up to her being just another cute, dumb country bunny still too naïve to survive in the big city. Then she’d hustled him into helping her crack the case. Hell, he hadn’t even wanted anything to _do_ with her, much less help her. But in the process she’d saved his life not once, not twice, but _three times_! He trusted her with his whole being.

 

“You know what, Nick, just go. Just get out and go inside and pretend that none of this ever happened. By tonight, we’ll just be back to being partners in the ZPD, and you won’t have to worry about any of this again.” She turned away from him, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly panicked when he saw her ears droop and her shoulders slump.

 

She’d helped him turn his life around. Hell, he had been willing to completely uproot himself and his entire way of life to join her at the ZPD. She’d asked him on a whim, and practically without hesitation he had agreed to it. And then when she’d said those fateful, hateful words up on the podium, he’d felt like his entire world was shattering apart. More so than when he’d been beaten and muzzled at his Junior Ranger Scout investiture. To him, Judy’s words had been as earth-shaking as the news that his mother had died.

 

“Carrots… Judy…”

 

And then she’d come back. And she’d shown him remorse. Judy had apologized for her words because she knew that they’d hurt _him_. She actually cared about _him_ , Nicholas Wilde, the fox. Not the con-artist that she’d roped into helping her, not the citizen that the government saw him as, him as a _person._ He couldn't remember anyone other than his mother ever caring for _him_.

 

“Didn’t you hear me?” Judy snapped, turning back sharply to stare at her partner. “I said—“ Suddenly the fox was on her. His paws were scrabbling at her back, he was lunging towards her, and…!

 

She felt his lips press against her, felt his paws pull her out of her seat and against his body, felt the tension in his muscles and the quiet desperation on his lips.

 

She pulled back, and he let her go, reluctantly. She looked into his eyes. Each emotion that she noticed in the emerald irises was stronger than the last. Desire. Desperation. Fear.

 

“Don’t-don’t let things go back to the way they were before,” he pleaded. “I don’t want to be the only person that cares about me anymore. Especially not with you around. I don’t want… I couldn’t handle not having you in my life.” There was a shimmer of tears in the corners of each eye.

 

She was completely taken aback. Was this really _Nick?_ The same fox that could hustle his way out of almost any situation, who could deal with hardened criminals and mob bosses without batting an eye, who had dealt with years of prejudice with a smile on his face? Was he really crying because he was so scared of losing _her_ , the dumb bunny?

 

Judy turned off the car. “Let’s go inside.” Nick could tell that she was trying hard to keep her voice neutral.

 

The two of them got out and walked up to Nick’s front door. He unlocked it and pushed it open, motioning for her to go first. Once they were both inside, he turned to close and lock the door, and when he turned back to face her, she rushed at him. For a moment, he was afraid she was going to attack him, but then she had her arms wrapped around his waist, her silver muzzle buried under his tie, her ears flat against her head. It took him less than a heartbeat to wrap his arms around her shaking body and hug her back.

 

“You bunnies, so emotional.” His words were half-hearted and said in irony as he pressed his muzzle into the top of Judy’s head and prayed that she couldn’t feel the teardrops falling from his eyes.

 

She gave him a small laugh and squeezed him tighter.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg

“My, my, my. How much is it going to cost for a night with a pretty little thing like you?”

 

Nick snarled playfully from the street corner where he was standing. “Ricky, you ass, at this rate we’re going to be late.”

 

“Sorry, cuz; the boss wanted a cheeseburger.” The back door of the limo opened and out stepped two absolutely enormous jaguars, both wearing black suits without a tie. They immediately began a full-body search on Nick, tail-tip right down to between his fangs. Once they were satisfied that he was clear of wires or other miscellaneous threats, they picked him up under the arms and tossed him into the back seat. There were two more equally massive jaguars waiting for him.

 

Ricky was sitting on the seat opposite him, and beside him was a wizened jackal. Nick had to admit, the jackal had class. Not as much as Mr. Big, maybe, but plenty of class nonetheless. Ricky, on the other hand, looked dishevelled and sleazy in his ripped denim jeans and studded leather jacket.

 

“What’s the matter, Nicky? You look a little tense.”

 

“Well, there’s a meeting with Jameson Blackfur on the horizon, and of course that rough introduction with these friendly jaguars just now. Kinda makes sense, from my perspective.”

 

“Nicholas Piberius Wilde,” the jackal rasped in a pronounced accent. _Definitely a species thing,_ Nick thought. “These good jaguars are my friends! And as long as you do nothing to endanger my plans, or myself, then they are your friends as well. If not… well, it will be in your best interest if you don’t test their patience.”

 

At the jackal’s words, Nick dropped any pretence of a smile and sat between the four giant jaguars in silence.

 

The limo drove them up through the Rainforest district and into the Canal district. There they disembarked and boarded a black yacht, which was crawling with jaguars and jackals. The yacht took them out to a small island hidden in one of the junctions of a few canals. There they disembarked again, and were immediately surrounded by a mix of jackals, jaguars, and badgers.

 

The large front doors of the mansion to which they were escorted were opened from the inside as they approached, and a badger dressed in a fine suit showed them into a large sitting room. All the furniture was carved from a stained mahogany, and upholstered with green velvet. A fire flickered in the large fireplace set into the far wall.

 

The four massive jaguars and 4 jackals lined the walls as they entered. Nick was left to sit on one side of the wizened jackal, to whom he had yet to be introduced. Ricky was sitting on the jackal’s other side.

 

After a few moments, another set of doors opened and in walked Wolfe, Blackfur, and an older badger wearing a red smoking jacket. Behind them came an assortment of mammals, from grizzly bears to badgers to – and Nick had to do a double take – several female rabbits. Wolfe, Blackfur and the older badger who Nick assumed was Jameson Blackfur, all came to sit on the couch opposite Nick, Ricky and the jackal. Their entourage lined the walls alongside the jackals and jaguars. 4 of the rabbits had a bottle of wine each, two had trays full of wine glasses, and one was carrying a covered silver tray, which she deposited on the coffee table before giving Nick a cursory glance and the ghost of a smile. He shifted uncomfortably, glad that Judy wasn’t with him.

 

The jackal sitting next to Nick stood up, as did Ricky. Nick reluctantly did the same. “Good evening, sir. I presume that you are Master Blackfur?” The old badger inclined his head. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Your son has done a wonderful job of arranging this meeting.” The three of them sat back down.

 

“My son could have done a better job of it; you have brought far too many people along, especially those two foxes. I’m not sure I trust them.” Nick felt the familiar twinge in his gut at the badger’s words, but quelled it as naturally as breathing. It was something he was used to.

 

“Foxes can be quite useful creatures,” the jackal said amiably. “Besides, I believe it was your son who requested that we have _both_ of them with us tonight, as opposed to just my associate.”

 

“I’m aware. He already outlined his reasons. Whether or not I trust them is my own matter, and not what I came here to discuss tonight. Before we begin, though, I’m afraid that I don’t know your name, sir.”

 

Nick picked up on the fact that Jameson Blackfur was being so differential to the jackal beside him; he wondered if it was just a cautionary measure, or if he actually did have some sort of reverence for him.

 

“Rest easy, sir, for my name will cause you no harm. However, names do have a power, and I would much prefer to keep mine out of our discussions today.” The badgers on the couch both frowned at the jackal’s rasped words. Wolfe remained impassive.

 

“I would still like to know.”

 

The jackal smiled and motioned with one paw heavy with gold and jewels. The rabbits instantly sprang into motion, opening one of the bottles of wine and pouring six glasses of it. Nick was surprised to find that it was the same wine that he’d ordered at the vegan restaurant on the double date with Judy and her friends.

 

The rabbit in front of Nick was trying her hardest to be seductive. She was wearing a low-cut dress that he was certain Judy would be mortified to ever put on, with smart silver tassels that melded nicely with her brown-and-silver fur. He thanked her for the wine, took a sip, and then pointedly looked away. He watched in his periphery as she sulked away.

 

“How the hell did you do that?”

 

“Subliminal directions hidden by high frequencies; though they cannot perceive them, I can easily control them in that way.”

 

A low growl from the other couch drew his attention back to the proceedings. “I think I would have heard any frequencies that you’d be able to play,” Wolfe was saying. Lucas Blackfur looked noticeably uncomfortable. Jameson Blackfur kept his expression neutral.

 

“There are certain frequencies that even your undoubtedly astute hearing cannot perceive. Unless you think there can be another explanation?”

 

“You mean besides the very obvious possibility that you’ve paid them off in some way? Or blackmailed them?”

 

“I believe you consider me as someone who is very underhanded, as someone who works primarily in the shadows. Is that correct, Mr. Wolfe?”

 

“It is indeed.”

 

The jackal laughed. “Well I guess I don’t have any reason to dispute that, seeing as that is exactly what we are here to discuss, though I do not work that way on principle. You would do well to remember to whom it is that you are speaking. Now, to business.”

**

Judy was waiting just around the block with Agent Aztai when Nick was finally dropped back off at his street corner. They’d been tracking him all over the city, all through the traffic cameras and through the ABI surveillance network. Judy became very disconcerted that the ABI had such extensive access to the private lives of its citizens.

 

Nick walked over to their van looking visibly shaken. His shirt had four distinct claw-marks through it; judging by the pattern, they had been created by a grizzly. “Nick! Are you okay? What happened?” She began to fuss over him a little bit until he cleared his throat and looked over her shoulder. She turned back to Agent Aztai with an embarrassed smile on her face. The snow leopard wore an amused expression.

 

“Well Officer Wilde, I trust that you were successful in your mission?”

 

Nick cleared his throat again. “It should be good.”

 

“Should be?”

 

“There’s a possibility that the recording will be distorted by certain frequencies in different sections. Apparently the jackal – who never mentioned his name – was using those tonight to control Blackfur’s wait staff. That’s also how he’ll be controlling the predators, or so he said.”

 

“Good work. Give me the phone and we’ll get that in to the analysts immediately.” Nick pulled the planted phone out of his pocket and handed it over to Agent Aztai. “Now, is there anything else that you’d like to report before we return you to your own devices?”

 

“Yeah. We need to get people mobilizing ASAP. They heard about the raid on Dusty’s Casino while we were in there. They decided to move everything up to tomorrow night.”

 

Aztai’s long spotted tail snapped back and forth. “Tomorrow night?”

 

Nick nodded, feeling sick. “They’re sending out the call to assemble tomorrow night. 7PM at an abandoned warehouse on Harbour Street.” Aztai swore profusely.

 

“All of this is on the recording?” Nick nodded again. “Good. Both of you are dismissed; I need to radio this in to our team right away.” She disappeared back the way they’d come earlier, and Judy turned to Nick.

 

“What happened in there?”

 

“There was a bit of a scuffle; Blackfur got pissed that the jackal dude could so easily control the animals in the room, and he sent one of his goons after the old mammal. Unfortunately, the jackal’s bodyguards jumped in front and it became a bit of a brawl. At one point, one of the grizzlies lost his balance and his claws shot out and got me.” Judy gasped and her eyes widened. “I’m not hurt,” he added when he saw her reaction. “The claws cut through my shirt and took off a few strands of fur, but it didn’t break the skin.”

 

Judy let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She pressed up against him and gave him a big hug. He returned it gratefully, feeling himself relax a little bit. Then Judy pulled back from him. “Why do I smell rabbit on your clothes?”

 

“Apparently a fox fetish _is_ a lot more common in rabbits than I thought; a few of the wait staff tonight were rabbits, and they all seemed to have some kind of fox crush.” She looked up into his face, searching for the smile that would say he was joking. It wasn’t there. “Ricky got most of the attention, thankfully; the only time one of them actually touched me was just after the brawl with the grizzly. She practically leapt on top of me and I had to pry her off.”

 

“Oh.” Judy pulled back and turned away.

 

“Carrots, the last thing I want is to be with any-bunny other than you.”

 

She spun on her heel. “Did you just-“ His smile was back as he pulled her against his chest again. “Oof—get off me, you silly fox!” Her laughter took the edge off her words.

 

They let go of each other and started to walk. “So, where to, Carrots?”

 

“Well, you kinda need a new shirt. I mean, unless you’re going to make this a new fashion statement…”

 

“I hope the department is going to start reimbursing me for all my casual clothes that end up being destroyed in the line of duty.”

 

“Bogo might, if you submit it as on-the-job expenses.”

 

“That’s a thing?”

 

“Mm-hm! They don’t like to tell you about it because there’s such a wide listing of things that officers can claim for – transportation, food while on the job, subsidiaries for housing if they’re forced to move away from home for work, personal possessions including clothes that get lost or destroyed in the line of duty. Of course,” Judy added at the glint that had appeared in Nick’s eyes, “you have to have proof. So like, anything you register in advance can be claimed in terms of personal possessions, any food that you eat for shifts lasting over 6 hours at a time without break, stuff like that.”

 

“How do you know all this?”

 

“I did my research. It’s a hidden resource listed in the ZPD Officer’s Manual, talking about a form for extra expenditures. I asked the instructor about it at the Police Academy. It’s thanks to her that I’m able to live in Savannah Central at all.”

 

“Really?” He had known even before he joined that the ZPD didn’t exactly pay very well, but he had assumed that it would have at least covered the cost of living for its officers, even if it was only in a place like the Pangolin Arms. “How much does your apartment cost?”

 

Judy shifted uncomfortably. “About $2200 a month. The ZPD covers half of that, though.”

 

“Oh.” That wasn’t too bad of a price for living just a few blocks away from Savannah Central. And with the ZPD paying half of it, she had better accommodations than probably a good number of citizens in Zootopia.

 

They were just a few blocks away from Nick’s neighbourhood. “So, want to join me for a late dinner? I think I have something edible in my kitchen…”

 

“Sure! But only if it’s veggies; I don’t think I can really stomach the fish or those insect things that you like.”

 

“Oh, I could probably whip something up.”

 

“Nick!”

 

“Just veggies,” he chuckled. “Promise.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For many locations/city layout, I am using information provided on the wiki, concept art (1) and this map (2) drawn by Matthias Lechner, Art Director of Environments for Zootopia:  
> (1) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/zootopia.html  
> (2) http://www.matthiaslechner.com/uploads/8/2/4/8/8248893/382037_orig.jpg
> 
> This chapter is a bit more graphic than the others have been. I'm rating this chapter MATURE for themes and content. With that warning in mind, enjoy!

Nick walked around the old warehouse, carefully taking note of the assembled predators and studiously avoiding the punch. That was how they were distributing the drug to all the predators that weren’t into the drug scene. Yeah, no thanks.

 

He was surprised by the turnout. Since showing up, he’d counted a few dozen cheetahs, seventeen lions, four tigers, five or six foxes (though there was still no sign of Ricky), a half-dozen polar bears, twice that many grizzlies, a multitude of badgers that made his vision swim every time he tried to count them, close to forty hyenas, and almost a hundred wolves.

 

And then there were the jackals. Almost 500 had arrived by boat in the dead of night, long before anyone had thought to look out for them. Not that it would have done them much good; the black-and-tan fur that they sported camouflaged them better than most mammals could claim, even in their natural habitats.

 

Nick’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and hit the talk button. “Hello?”

 

“Nick!” The phone was almost thrown across the room as Nick jerked it away from his face. Finnick’s screaming voice on the other end of the line was as loud as ever.

 

“Keep your voice down!” Nick said back to him, turning towards the back corner where there weren’t any animals. “I’m in public, and the last thing you want is for them to get pissed.”

 

“Man, I don’t give a shit! Are you comin’ to the poker game tonight or what?!”

 

“Look, Finnick, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” He kept on his trademark smug smile while talking into his phone. A badger looked over at him strangely. Nick just pulled back his lips slightly and waved. The badger turned away fairly quickly.

 

“If you tell me Flopsy the Copsy’s got you all tied up tonight, I’m gonna—“

 

“Ricky’s organized a rumbling.” Nick practically whispered it, but suddenly the other end of the line went dead quiet. “I’m working with the ZPD to try and stop it.”

 

Silence.

 

Finnick’s older sister had been killed in the last rumbling that had happened. She’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time and some lion had mistaken her for a rabbit. Finnick had been ten years old when it happened, and he had sat on his couch at home, watching the security footage that they were broadcasting on ZNN. The two hadn’t known each other then, but there had been nights where Finnick had slept at Nick’s – usually the fennec fox had gotten too drunk to stand – and sometimes he’d have nightmares about that incident.

 

“Is Judy on the case with you?” Nick barely heard the voice at the other end of the line.

 

“The chief ordered her to take a mandatory leave of absence. She’s supposed to be staying with Mr. Big and Fru Fru for the night.”

 

The other fox let out a sigh of relief. “Good. Last thing I’d want is for something to happen to her… or you, for that matter.”

 

“Aww, Finnick, you actually do care.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” came the gruff reply. “Don’t get used to it. Now, where’s this thing happening? What area of town?”

 

“Uh…”

 

“I ain’t gonna show up there, Nimrod; I’m gonna try and keep my boys away from the area!”

 

“Two. One’s out by the docks, near my place, supposedly heading down through Savannah Central. The other’s coming from the east and is going to rip through Sahara Square and the nightlife area there. If things go according to their plan, the two groups will converge in the downtown core.”

 

Finnick swore. “You’d better stay safe – and hope that you and the fuzz are gonna be able to stop this thing.”

 

“We’ll be fine, and get this done. I have to go; I’m starting to draw attention to myself.”

 

Nick stashed his phone as Lucas Blackfur approached him. Nick knew that he was still an undercover agent, but that didn’t mean that the badger didn’t do a damn good job of making himself look and feel like the real deal.

 

“Something troubling you, Mr. Wilde?”

 

“No, sir, Mr. Blackfur.”

 

“And who was on the phone?”

 

“One of my poker buddies; we play a game every Saturday and they wanted to know if I was on my way tonight or if they should start without me.”

 

“You should have invited them to join us tonight.”

 

“A weasel, a fennec fox, two raccoons and an otter. Yeah, that would have helped us out immensely,” Nick drawled out sarcastically.

 

“Pretty big word for such a dumb animal. Next time you want to warn people, try doing it more secretively,” the badger hissed.

 

Nick froze. “You could hear me?”

 

“Hear? No. But I could read your lips, and that’s just as bad. If anyone else had caught you, you would likely be used as bait to whip up the frenzy.” The badger disappeared back into the crowd and Nick was left alone again.

 

Scanning the room again, he did a quick recount. With the exception of the wolves and the jackals, the other species had doubled their numbers. He also noticed that several weasels had shown up as well.

 

Nick reached up to the radio transmitter collar hidden under shirt collar and hit the button. “Wilde, reporting in,” he murmured. He was careful to make sure that his lips stayed still as much as he could; he was going to make sure that no one else could read his words.

 

“We’re listening, Officer Wilde.” It was Aztai on the other end of the line. The ABI were still in charge of the operation. Each end of town had a mobile communications van, and both were in connection to the ZPD HQ in Savannah Central.

 

“Numbers have gone way, way up.”

 

“Total estimate?”

 

“Just under 400.”

 

“Is that including the jackals?”

 

“With jackals we’re looking at close to 650, and rising.”

 

“So our guess that the 500 would be divided seems correct, then.”

 

“It seems like it.”

 

“Copy that, Wilde. Continue to observe, and if you’re able, give us a standby.”

 

“Roger that.”

 

Nick continued to wander around, talking to the various animals that he recognized from the different ends of town and from various cons and other ventures that he’d pulled off during the years. Finally, after a half-hour more of socializing, the old jackal took the stage. Wolfe and Lucas Blackfur were with him.

 

Nick was at the back of the crowd, and he managed to take a few steps back and radio in again. “This is Wilde, the bird is in the nest.” Code: put everyone on standby

 

“Situation, Wilde?”

 

“The old jackal has taken the stage, it looks like everyone’s getting ready to hit the pavement.”

 

The old jackal started to speak. “Welcome, brothers and sisters. Welcome, predators from all species. Welcome here today, those of you from all walks of life. I am glad to see so many of you, my brethren, gathered here today. For today, we will create a world in which we are given the respect we deserve. Today, we will remake the great city of Zootopia as we see fit. Today, we will write the history of Animalia with the blood of the prey that we kill.”

 

A ripple of unease, shock, and even excitement ran through the crowd at the jackal’s words. Nick didn’t like where this was going.

 

“Tonight, my brethren, I will give you the tools you need to let free the abilities of your ancestors and live as the great creatures that we were in the past. Tonight, you will feast. For many of you, this will be the first time that you taste the flesh of our prey. But after tonight, you will be able to dine upon their succulent bodies whenever you desire!”

 

Nick pressed a paw to his stomach and one to his lips. This madman was talking about _eating_ the prey animals in the city? Mayor Bellwether had been crazy, with her plan to have predators _attack_ prey animals, but this old jackal was just purely _demonic!_

 

“I know that some of you will revel in this idea, and to you, my brethren, I say that your time is now.”

 

“And if we don’t want to go along with your plan?” One of the tigers stepped up to the stage, her lion partner following closely behind. “What if we decide to stop you instead, and drag you back to the police to have you locked away for good?”

 

The old jackal grinned. “Then, my dear, you will _revel in the sweet nectar of their veins_.” With those words, something happened. The pair’s tails stopped lashing, and the lion stopped growling. More than half the audience got a glassy look in their eyes. The jackals pulled out vials of silver liquid attached to hypodermic needles, which they then used to inject the rest of the audience. They got the same glassy look in their eyes. Realizing what had happened, Nick quickly forced his muscles to relax and got the same dreamy expression on his face, letting everything go slack.

 

A jackal paused in front of him, vial in hand, and turned towards the fox. Nick made sure that he didn’t move. After a few minutes of staring, however, the jackal finally moved on without incident.

 

“Go now, and bring the city to its knees!”

 

A great bellow went out from the assembled crowd, all the predators making their most fearsome growls, howls, yips, and other predatory noises. They all started racing towards the warehouse doors.

 

“This is Wilde. All predators, on the move. I repeat, all predators are on the move!”

 

“All except us, it seems.”

 

Nick spun around. Ricky was standing right behind him, hands in the pockets of his jeans. For once he wasn’t wearing his usual mohawk or studded leather jacket. In fact, he looked almost like every other young fox out there… or like a younger version of Nick.

 

“So you really are working for the fuzz.” It wasn’t a question.

 

“What are you—“

 

“The old man had his reservations about you. Said you were too hard to read, too unreliable. He said I couldn’t trust you. I guess he was right.”

 

“Listen, Ricky, I—“

 

“Shove it, Nick. I stuck my neck out for you here. Was this entire thing orchestrated by the ABI? Yeah, we know about their involvement; why do you think the old man wouldn’t mention his name around you? And what’s all that about, anyway? I thought you hated the ABI for what they did to you and your parents.”

 

“Sometimes you have to do what you have to do.” It sounded lame, even to Nick. “I mean, did you even _listen_ to that jackal up there? He’s talking about _eating_ prey! That’s absolutely—“

 

“Natural.”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s absolutely natural. That rabbit friend of yours got it right in her speech after Mayor Lionheart was arrested; it’s in our DNA. We _want_ to eat the meat of other, weaker animals. That’s what we’ve always _craved_. But I guess you probably wouldn’t understand that, now would you? Especially not since that stupid rabbit convinced you to betray everyone.”

 

“I didn’t betray anyone, Ricky. I’m just doing what needs to be done to protect people.” Something suddenly clicked in Nick’s mind. “When you said, back at the transit station, that she looked good enough to eat…”

 

“Damn right. I was planning on ripping her apart for that juicy rabbit meat. Unfortunately, I think I’ll just have to let it be you that gets to taste that succulent flesh.” Ricky got a devilish grin on his face and Nick felt a sudden prick pierce the skin at the back of his neck. He fell to the ground, and the last thing he saw was the face of the jackal that had injected the silver serum into his neck.

**

They had been in the middle of dinner when Judy got the text.

 

Lily and Mark had missed the last train and weren’t able to get out of the city. There was less than an hour before the rumbling was supposed to start. They were right in the middle of the rumbling’s path – what Judy had overheard the other officers calling the “tunnel of bloody hell”. She shuddered to think the name, but knew exactly how accurate it was going to be if the ABI and the ZPD couldn’t stop it.

 

Fru Fru, who had taken a liking to the other two rabbits during their brunch together, insisted that Judy go out and get them. Both of them knew that, with the warning to stay indoors as much as possible, Lily and Mark would try to avoid predators as much as possible. And Mr. Big’s associates didn’t really inspire a warm fuzzy feeling in the people around them.

 

So Judy found herself sitting in the back of Mr. Big’s white limo beside Kevin and Raymond, heading towards Savannah Central’s Central Square. The two polar bears weren’t the only ones in their guard, either. Both in front of and behind the limo were two sets of cars, each seating four polar bears. Judy was surprised to find out exactly how many of the mammals were employed by her goddaughter’s grandfather.

 

Suddenly Judy spotted them through the window. “Mr. Manchas, pull over here please!” The group of cars pulled over, and Raymond stepped out first. It looked to Judy like Mark nearly had a heart attack as the other polar bears piled out of their cars on either side. “Lily! Mark!”

 

“Judy!” The two rabbits practically sprang at her as soon as her feet hit the pavement.

 

“Are you guys okay?” The two of them nodded mutely. “Good. Get in; we’re going back to Fru Fru’s house until we can get you out of the city.”

 

“But…” Lily shushed her fiancée and dragged him into the limo, Judy and Raymond right behind. The other polar bears returned to their cars and they were on their way back to Tundratown.

 

“Wh-what’s happening tonight?” Lily whined, begging for an answer that Judy knew she wouldn’t want to hear. “We heard roars and screams just a little while ago, and the news feeds are blowing up! Are predators really—“

 

“Some of them are,” Judy cut in. “Which is why we have so many polar bears here with us. There’s a conspiracy to make predators go half-savage by using a new drug. The police and the ABI are supposed to be containing it, but I don’t know what’s happening right now; I’m trying not to look at any of the news feeds tonight.”

 

“Do you think they’ll succeed?”

 

Judy never had a chance to answer. The limo swerved suddenly and Judy saw a wolf pounce at the hood. Another one hit the window beside Kevin, and a third wasn’t too far off, either. Ahead she could see the car in front stop and the polar bears pour out, guns in hand as they started to fend off the wolves.

 

In their own car, Mr. Manchas seemed to be having some kind of panic attack. He curled up in a ball on the ground, his paws constantly going back to his eyes, pressing into them as if he were in pain. Only a moment too late, Judy realized that he was having some kind of PTSD flashback from the Night Howler case.

 

The back window shattered, and suddenly both Kevin and Raymond were claws and teeth through the window, tearing at the hyena who had broken the glass.

 

Mr. Manchas suddenly launched himself through the driver’s side door and out into the street. Mark, who had not seen the black jaguar’s reaction and probably thinking it would be safer to be on the move beside the big cat, sprung out of the door onto the road, Lily just a moment behind him.

 

Judy was about to follow them when Kevin put his paw on her shoulder. “Ms. Hopps, we have explicit orders to keep you safe, and—“

 

“Kevin, I really appreciate it, but I need to keep my friends safe. I’m a fully trained and field tested officer of the ZPD; I can handle myself.”

 

“But—“

 

“It will cause me more emotional pain to let them go only for them to _die_ , that if I go out there and get a few cuts, scratches or bruises. If you’re really that worried about protecting me, then come with me!” She shrugged off his massive paw and sprinted after her friends. “Lily! Mark!”

 

The world outside was a warzone. To one side, polar bears were fighting off savage predators with guns and claws. On the other side, it was the ZPD and ABI in full riot gear. At least a dozen cars had crashed in the few minutes following the first attack against the limo, and two of them were on fire.

 

Mr. Manchas was pretty well left alone, but the two rabbits in front of her were very obviously targets. Judy tackled her two friends just in time to drag them out of the way of a hungry hyena. The animal crashed into a garbage can and wandered around dazed for a moment. That gave the three rabbits just enough time to disappear under a car.

 

“You idiots! Why the hell would you run out _into_ the place where the angry predators were _attacking_?”

 

“We… we…” There was desperation in their eyes, and more than a little fear.

 

Judy sighed. Then, noticing a snout trying to shove its way under the car, she pulled out the fox repellent she had in her pocket and sprayed it at the snout. The animal sprang back with a whimper. She hated carrying the fox spray after the incident with Nick, but she felt that the situation that evening warranted it.

 

The car they were sheltering under started shaking under the weight of the predators trying to get it out of the way to devour the three rabbits underneath. Every time a snout got under the edge, Judy would spray it with fox repellent. Though the spray was designed for foxes, it seemed to work fairly well on the other predators too.

 

Suddenly one edge of the car lifted up. Judy was about to spray the grey tracksuit… Raymond’s grey tracksuit. Judy lowered the fox repellent in surprise and gratitude. “Get moving,” he grunted. “We need to move. Now.”

 

The three rabbits rushed out from under the car and ran with the polar bears that were surrounding them to the cars that had originally held their escort. The bears all crushed into the seats, putting the three bunnies on their laps. Judy lay panting against her friends and Raymond’s solid chest.

 

The cars began to move, and Judy finally thought they were safe. Until, that is, a black paw reached in through the broken window and scooped her out of the car faster than anyone could react. The next moment, she was thrown against a wall.

 

Dazed and confused, she watched as the three jackals approached her. One of them seemed to still be in control of her faculties. “P-please,” Judy called out softly. “Do-don’t hurt me.” She could hear herself slurring her words. But she couldn’t dredge up the energy to care. She couldn’t dredge up the energy to move, even.

 

“Oh, you poor, confused little bunny,” the jackal laughed. “You think you stood any chance of saving your friends once the fighting started? We could smell your fear from a mile away.” Judy could only watch as the three jackals prowled closer, two of them on all fours. “But now, you’re caught. You’ve got nowhere to run, and your fox repellent is out of reach. Whatever are you going to do?” Again that cold, cruel laugh.

 

The jackals lunged. One of them got her right leg in its mouth. Another one grabbed her left arm between the teeth. The last thing she saw was the third jackal laughing at her, bearing down from above. Her last thought was of the sly fox that walked her dreams with a loving smile and a pair of mischievous green eyes.

**

 _Hunt_.

 

He could hear their screams; hear the sounds of the other predators ripping into the meat. He could smell the fear, the blood, the lovely scent of fresh meat. He hadn’t had any fresh meat in so long…

 

_Pounce._

 

He was hungry; he was starving. He had eaten before… but now he was hungry again, and so now he must eat again. There were plenty of animals to choose from: some nice tasty sheep, maybe some shrews or voles, or even some meat from one of the caribou carcasses that he could see a pack of wolves tearing into. If there was anything left of it when they were done…

 

_Kill._

 

Off to his left, he caught sight of a trio of bunnies. Two males, one female. His chops watered at the thought of having fresh rabbit. He charged after them. They ran. He was faster. One of them tripped. It turned to face him. Its face was terrified, mouth open in horror, a paw held up in front of it… Just like Judy.

 

_Judy._

 

He remembered her. The rabbit from the museum. The last time that he’d gone savage. Or rather, the last time that he’d pretended to be savage. It had all been a ruse, but the fear in her eyes had been real.

 

_Judy._

 

The rabbit in front of him changed. One moment she was the small brown hare, the next she was the silver-furred violet-eyed bunny that waltzed through his head, day and night.

 

_Judy!_

 

Judy was scared. She was out in public. She wasn’t supposed to be in public. She needed to be protected. What was she doing here? She needed to be safe. She was scared and alone and needed to get up, get up and run and hide. What was she doing here?

 

_JUDY._

 

There was a predator behind him, another one that wanted this rabbit. Wanted to eat this rabbit. Wanted to eat Judy. His Judy. The Judy that he’d dropped everything for. The Judy that he’d suffered through Police Academy for. The Judy that had snuggled into his shoulder the night of the concert, that had kissed him after a night out.

 

_JUDY!_

 

Nick turned to face this new predator, a timbre wolf with a bloody muzzle and tattered clothes. They bared fangs at each other, and every time the timbre wolf tried to make a move towards the rabbit, Nick got in his way, blocking him with snarls and bites every time. Finally, the wolf got tired of the games and pounced. Nick went down hard, hitting his head on the pavement. The last thing he saw were the bunnies running away in the opposite direction, the wolf chasing after them.

 

_Judy…?_

 

The bunny looked back. The last thing that Nick saw before he passed out was the wavering violet eyes retreating into the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the series will be posted soon! And of course, I'm going to keep developing the WildeHopps love story, as well as the plot.


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